Keeping kids safe from sex predators

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, Det Insp Myers is keen to reassure the public that disclosures will be made when someone is at risk.

A lot of the work Det Insp 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.

Det Insp 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 have been made to Cumbria police and 14 disclosures made.

Det Insp 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.

Det Insp 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.”

Working to keep community safe

Sex offenders in Cumbria are monitored by a number of agencies.

The National Probation Service is responsible for delivering rehabilitation programmes for offenders.

A spokesman for the service said: “Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements or MAPPA is the process through which the police, probation and prison services work together with other agencies to assess and manage violent and sexual offenders in order to protect the public from harm.

“It is a system of sharing information and combining resources to maximise the risk management in place for each individual offender.

“It is the responsibility of the National Probation Service to manage all offenders that are classed as high risk or managed by MAPPA.”

Programmes delivered by probation is Cumbria are behavioural programmes designed to deal with offences relating to domestic abuse, drink-driving, violent behaviour, substance misuse and hate crime.

The spokesman added: “We also run programmes that help people deal with conflict, manage stressful situations or develop better social skills.

“ViSOR is a database holding details of sexual and violent offenders, and other dangerous persons. Police, prisons and probation all work on the same IT system enabling the sharing of risk assessments and risk management information on individual violent and sex offenders.”

The rapist who changed his name

The county was shaken by the news a Carlisle child sex offender was previously prosecuted for horrific child sex offences in west Cumbria – when he had a different name.

The News & Star revealed the news last week after a court case involving Carlisle man Mark Parker.

His sordid past came to light only after he had admitted two new historical sex crimes against a girl who was young enough to be at primary school.

At Carlisle Crown Court, the 57-year-old defendant was due to face a trial accused of raping the child and subjecting her to an indecent assault. He admitted his guilt before the trial began.

After he was granted bail, it emerged that Parker had previously served several years in jail for a string of appalling sex crimes against children – but when he was jailed for those offences in 2005 he was called Nicholas McKerrow.

The judge at the time imposed an indeterminate sentence in order to protect the public, and put McKerrow, formerly of Seascale, on the sex offenders’ register for life.

Despite the seriousness of his offending, in 2017 McKerrow was allowed to change his name. He has settled in Carlisle without any obvious way for local people to discover his disturbing criminal past.

The News & Star has established that Parker, now of Central Avenue, Harraby, Carlisle, was jailed in 2005 for 11 child sex offences.

The former Sellafield worker sexually abused eight children, both boys and girls.

The Home Office says that it can withhold the right of a convicted sex offender to change his or her name - but Cumbria Police said it does not have that power.

There is no suggestion that Parker did not notify the authorities of his new name.

At his latest hearing, Parker was granted bail on condition he lives at his current address and has no contact with his victim. He will be sentenced on February 10.