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Church group backs child porn amnesty

-6/02/05

Proposals for an amnesty for users of internet child pornography have been backed by a church group.

The Churchesí Child Protection Advisory Service (CCPAS) gave its support to plans for users of internet child pornography to escape criminal charges if they hand their computer porn over to police.

CCPAS said offenders would be ìspared the humiliation of a court appearance and a formal prosecutionî if they agreed to see a psychiatrist.

The proposal was first put forward in 2003 by deputy director of child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, Donald Findlater.

He said the move would encourage offenders to come forward for treatment and possibly prevent them going on to abuse children in real life.

In return, offenders would hand in their computer hard drives to police to be destroyed.

ìExposure to child pornography increases the likelihood of people becoming riskier around children,î said Mr Findlater.

ìIt is likely to reinforce images, attitudes and disposition and leak out into the way they conduct themselves in real time.î

The amnesty could help nip child abuse in the bud, he added.

It would be a significant departure from current law and would require a change in the law.

Offenders would still be placed on the sex offendersí register, said Mr Findlater.

David Pearson, director of CCPAS, an independent Christian charity which provides child protection advice to all denominations in the UK, said: ìMonitoring and dealing with the downloading of child pornography is a huge problem which is largely beyond the resources of police agencies.

ìI think it makes ígood senseí for child protection to help people with a problem in this area to come forward before they start directly abusing children.

ìThey are less likely to come forward under the present law.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: ìWe would not at present support this proposal and it raises a number of issues which would need to be examined in detail.

ìWe regard every indecent photograph of a child as child abuse and people who use indecent photographs contribute to that abuse.

ìWe do recognise the value of treatment and prevention, but child protection is the priority. ì

She added: ìProtecting children, on and off-line, is of the highest priority for the Government.

ìThe UK police are at the cutting edge of developing new techniques to detect and combat paedophile activity on the Internet.

ìWe will continue to work with law enforcement, industry, childrenís charities and others to tackle the dangers posed by online paedophiles and ensure the UK provides a safe environment for legitimate internet users.î

The church group has also given its backing to another initiative, a website launched on 27 January, aims to become a ëone stop shop’ for all information about child protection on-line.

It is part of an international partnership between law enforcement agencies and industry in the United Kingdom , Australia , Canada , the US and Interpol and will provide a gateway for information on how to use the internet safely and link to a range of support agencies. It will also allow for internet users to report on-line child abuse to appropriate agencies in different countries.

David Pearson, director of the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service, said: ìMonitoring and dealing with the downloading of child pornography is a huge problem which is largely beyond the resources of police agencies. The Virtual Global Taskforce website is a big step in the right direction. I also think it makes ëgood sense’ child protection to help people with a problem in this area to come forward before they start directly abusing children. They are less likely to come forward under the present law. I would urge churches to use whatever influence they have to back these initiatives.î

Sex offending – particularly as it relates to the Church – will be discussed at a major conference organised by NOTA (National Organisation for the Treatment of Abusers) on 25 February at Church House, Westminster . The conference will be chaired by Donald Findlater and speakers will include David Pearson, Director of the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory Service; Rev David Gamble, Methodist Church and ìTime for Actionî; Margaret Kennedy, of Ministers and Clergy Sexual Abuse Survivors; Eileen Shearer, of Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults and David Middleton, Assistant Chief Officer ñ Sex Offenders Strategy and Programmes, from the National Probation Service.