Published: Wednesday, 21st July, 2010 5:00pm

Sex offenders should be tagged

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The news this week that a convicted paedophile is to be kept in custody in Ireland for a period of four months until such time as a UK extradition warrant can be served on him is a relief for parents and citizens generally. William John Paden, a man with 19 convictions including rape and inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, was apprehended in Ballyhaise a few weeks ago. He had disappeared from his Lancashire address in June, travelled to the North and from there entered the Republic.

He failed to notify the police or the gardaí of his movements or new address as per the terms of his release and inclusion on the Sex Offenders Register.

Thankfully while Paden was caught, the story highlights the vulnerability of Border counties such as Cavan to sex offenders and paedophiles. It also underlines the inadequacies of the current provisions under the Sex Offenders Act to monitor and manage convicted sex offenders and paedophiles.

It's understandable that members of the public can't have access to the Sex Offenders Register, ie the details of convicted sex offenders and where they are living. It leads to so-called vigilante attacks. But if that's the case, then the gardaí need to keep a tighter rein on the movement of convicted sex offenders. Simply to compel offenders to notify the authorities of their addresses and movements is not enough.

If somebody has perpetrated such a heinous crime on an individual, particularly on a child, and has been found guilty, they should have to earn their right to privacy on release and prove they can be trusted.

All sex offenders should be electronically tagged on release for a period of at least five years. Indeed, those convicted of child abuse perhaps should be tagged for life. With the use of GPS technology, then their every move can be accounted for and this would ensure a much more efficient management of sex offenders and the registers.

There are about 1,100 sex offenders registered with the gardaí in Ireland and that doesn't take into account tens of thousands more on the UK register. There needs to be a combined UK and Irish register that work in tandem with electronic tagging.

Thankfully in the Paden case, the police and gardaí co-operated well and he was apprehended before he had opportunity to commit any sex crime. It doesn't bear thinking about what might have happened if he hadn't been caught.

But until an electronic tagging system for sex offenders is introduced, what's to say another sex offender or paedophile won't abscond into our jurisdiction and perhaps inflect harm on an innocent victim or child.

The issue needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.