By Stefan Morkis

LOCKING UP a sex offender is a short-term solution to a long-term problem.

It may sate our immediate need for justice, particularly in cases against children, but a prison sentence can only guarantee they won’t hurt another victim while inside. It doesn’t solve the problem of what happens when that sentence ends.

Every year courts across Scotland sentence hundreds, if not thousands, of people for sexual crimes—from the 16-year-old boy caught having sex with his 15- year-old girlfriend to the most heinous cases of child abuse.

Not all of these offenders will go to jail, although all who are found guilty will end up on the sex offenders’ register, but even those that do will eventually complete their sentences and return to life on the outside.

What happens to them then— and in the months before their release—is now seen as key to preventing re-offending.

It is a mammoth task that involves a range of organisations.

The Scottish Prison Service, the police, council social work departments, health boards and even housing associations all have roles to play in monitoring the offender and helping to stop any further crimes from occurring.

Anyone who is placed on the sex offenders’ register is subject to supervision even after their period of registration officially ends, although around a third of all sex offenders will remain on the register for life.

The Tayside Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) system, like others around Scotland, was established last year to monitor sex offenders in the community and prevent them from re-offending, and also to help co-ordinate the response and supervision of all the various agencies involved.

It has expanded on previous multi-agency work and was responsible for the supervision of 266 offenders in its first year of operation, which ran from April 2007 to the end of March this year.

Tayside MAPPA’s first annual report released today suggests a successful first year, with only three out of Tayside’s 266 convicted sex offenders on its books re-offending.

It can be argued that is still three crimes too many but the low rate of re-offending does suggest the MAPPA approach is working.

Tayside MAPPA co-ordinator Elaine Stewart said, “The aim of MAPPA is public protection by means of managing the offender in order to reduce and manage the risk they pose.

“The legislation made it a duty to co-operate with all these different agencies, to assess the risk and manage the offender.

“Not all sex offenders will get a prison sentence—a lot of offenders receive probation.

“We can impose a regime of conditions that they are required to adhere to,” she added.

“They might have to comply with a treatment programme and notify us of their movements or about any training or employment they enter.

“It is quite broad and extensive. Where they don’t comply or breach their conditions they have to return to court.”

MAPPA will carry out a risk assessment while an offender is still in jail, or as soon as they are placed on the sex offenders’ register.

They will then work with housing associations to find suitable accommodation, carry out random checks on their home and make certain the offender is attending any programmes or counselling they are required to.

In fact every aspect of their life comes under intense scrutiny.

“The message to offenders is that there is nothing being missed,” Ms Stewart said.

Sex crime is still a relatively rare occurrence, although public perception is quite different.

There are 68 sex offenders in Tayside per 100,000 of population.

“The level of sex crime is pretty low, we don’t get serious sexual crimes reported day in, day out,” said Detective Superintendent Roddy Ross from Tayside Police.

“It’s relatively unusual—a lot of it is historic—and the bulk of it occurs within families.

“MAPPA tries to ensure these people will not re-offend and a 97% compliance rate suggests the majority don’t.”

Some sex offenders will have to attend hundreds of hours of group therapy sessions, which are taken by specially trained social workers, as well as other programmes designed to help them accept responsibility for their actions and explore what may have triggered their crimes.

In Scotland police and social workers work side by side to manage convicted sex offenders.

A team of 12 dedicated police officers and 25 social workers monitor Tayside’s sex offenders, with several of those working side by side in Friarfield House in Barrack Street.

This allows closer working partnerships and an ability to share information faster.

Despite this, there are still those who will re-offend.

What MAPPA aims to do in those circumstances is recognise the signs that the offender is falling into previous patterns of behaviour and take action to stop them from committing another crime.

A preventive order can be issued, which stops the offenders from visiting a specific location or taking part in an activity that increases the chances of them re-offending.

If they breach this order they will end up back behind bars.

“These tend to be used as a last resort, when there is an extreme risk,” said Ms Stewart.

Tayside MAPPA issued five of these last year.

“Again, these numbers are low,” said Mr Ross.

Warrants can also be issued within an hour for offenders who are not at their home or place of employment when they should be.

But according to Mr Ross, the best deterrent is the offender’s own conscience.

“Most sex offenders don’t want to be sex offenders—the most effective manager is themselves,” he said.

Every case is unique and the officers and social workers dealing with an offender must decide not only the possible risk to the public and what steps can be taken to minimise that but how much information to disclose to the people the offender may come into contact with.

“Disclosure is considered at every MAPPA meeting,” said Ms Stewart.

“That can be if an offender is going to college we speak to the college so they can put in place their own risk management plan or it can even be a third party, like a next door neighbour.

“Often the offender themselves may disclose the information.”

Although MAPPAs have only been responsible for monitoring sex offenders in their first year, their role will expand to supervising violent offenders in the future.