Castration plan for paedophiles

By Paula Sheppard and Philip Johnston

Last Updated: 2:34am BST 13/06/2007

Paedophiles are to be offered a drug treatment known as chemical castration, the Government is expected to announce today.


	Home Secretary John Reid

Under the plans, persistent child sex offenders who agree to the treatment would be given injections of leuproreline, which cuts testosterone levels in men.

Other countries - including Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the United States - already use the method in an attempt to reduce reoffending.

John Reid, the Home Secretary, is expected to say that "temporary castration" will not be compulsory and will not be linked to early release from prison.

The plans are set out in the Child Sex Offenders' Review, which also includes measures to allow parents to ask for police checks to be carried out on adults who have access to their children.

But it stops short of creating a UK version of the American "Megan's Law", which allows information to be disclosed about where sex offenders live even if they have no contact with children. Sara Payne, whose eight-year-old daughter Sarah was murdered by Roy Whiting in 2000, has led the campaign for a British equivalent "Sarah's Law".

Police have opposed this because they fear it would lead to vigilante attacks on paedophiles and drive them away from homes where they can be monitored. Research in America found that one in four convicted paedophiles was driven underground because of Megan's Law.

The review also includes plans to order paedophiles to take lie-detector tests. Extra funding of £1.2 million for agencies that deal with sex offenders will also be announced.

Research in America found that one in four convicted paedophiles was driven underground because of Megan's Law.

Yup- that's right- some people actually see the f$#%ing pedohiles as victims. Of course, if they weren't kiddie rapists, then they wouldn't need have been driven underground by the law, so I think I'll go ahead and continue thinking that they weren't driven underground as a consequence of a law being passed, but as a consequence of their own behavior.

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