Keeping children safe from sex predators: Police reveal how many times Sarah's Law has been used in Cumbria

Andy Myers is the detective inspector in charge of managing sex offenders and violent offenders in Cumbria.

Earlier this week, the county was shaken by the news that a child rapist was able to change his name and move from Seascale to Carlisle.

The name-change came to light after he admitted two new historic sex crimes against a girl who was young enough to be at primary school. He had previously been in jail for a string of appalling sex crimes against children.

Although there is no suggestion the name-change had not been disclosed to police, DI Myers is keen to reassure the public that disclosures will be made when someone is at risk.

A lot of the work DI Myers’ team does is proactive.

When men are convicted of child sex crimes, a number of conditions may be imposed, such as a ban on the use of internet-enables devices or equipment may be monitored.

“We can monitor what people are getting up to online, if we notice they may be doing pushing the line, even if it’s not an offence at that stage, the offender management team would go and speak to them.

“We had a case this week where someone was talking online to a 14-year-old, knowing they were that age. It was a basic conversation but we know where that leads. We intervened and he got two years for breaching an order.”

He added PCSOs play a big part in monitoring sex offenders. They have a map which makes them aware of sex offenders in their patch so they can look out for inappropriate behaviour.

DI Myers explained all sex offenders have an officer allocated to them, who is responsible for their management.

“This includes notification requirements and information sharing with other agencies such as children’s services. If it came to light an offender had some contact with children and they were deemed at risk we would do a review and if necessary make a disclosure for the purpose of preventing crime.

“That means, for example, that if we find out that he has a new relationship with a woman who has a child, we would do some research, speak to him and find out who the woman is. We would then find out if she was aware of his past and disclose the informations to her.

“We might do this jointly with children services, we work with various agencies.

“If I had any concerns about a child or a woman, my team would react to that promptly.”

Under Sarah’s Law, people can also request information regarding a suspected child sex offender.

But the information may only be disclosed to the person who can make a child safe, rather than anyone requesting it.

Since the law was introduced in 2010/11, 133 requests were made to Cumbria police and 14 disclosures made.

DI Myers said: “If I get an application and there is no information or intelligence to suggest the person is a sex offender, then people are told that is the case and we ask them to keep an eye on things.”

He added a lot of requests made were for people who were not sex offenders.

But he would not hesitate to make a disclosure to keep the community safe.

“We need to ensure we keep the public in Cumbria safe.

“If anyone has any information they believe may assist in the management of sex offenders or dangerous offenders, just get in touch.”

The work the team does can be challenging and psychological assessments are carried out on officers and support given.

DI Myers said: “To me the biggest satisfaction is when you have someone on your books and they don’t commit any further offences - that’s the goal.

“It’s a horrible feeling when an offender you manage commits another offence, we want to keep people safe.”

lOFFICERS in Cumbria will soon be able to use a polygraph to help with investigations.

The technology, commonly known as a lie detector, is due to be introduced soon.

Detective Inspector Andy Myers revealed a number of officers were being trained to use it.

He said: “It’s useful in cases where we have specific information we need clarification on and the examination is based around that. It’s only intelligence, not evidential, but it’s another tool to use in our action.”

The test is voluntary, so offenders cannot be forced to be subject to it.

A number of police forces in the UK already use polygraphs to assist in investigations where existing sex offenders are concerned.

Di Myers added: “There is a lot of scrutiny around sex offenders and we take it very seriously.”