UK police chief warns not enough jail space for all pedophiles
A senior British police chief says there are so many pedophiles in England and Wales that they cannot all be put into prison.
In an interview with The Times, Gavin Thomas called for a debate about sending some pedophiles into treatment rather than imprisoning them.
He suggested that pedophiles who download child pornography but do not commit offences involving contact should have professional help instead of facing jail time.
However, child rights group NSPCC has rejected the idea, saying that “sentencing needs to reflect the seriousness of the crime,” and that offenders should not “get off with a lighter penalty.”
“Viewing child abuse images is not some innocent pastime. The pictures are actually crime scenes and every one shows a young victim who has been abused and whose suffering is compounded every time that image is passed around by pedophiles,” the group said in a statement.
Thomas said that the sex offenders’ register is growing so rapidly that police will not be able to cope with monitoring all the criminals.
“One of the major concerns from our members is managing the register already, and it's growing. For offenders at the highest level there are visits to be made [and] monitoring access to the Internet,” he said in the interview.
The UK’s National Crime Agency estimates that around 750,000 British men are potential child sex offenders.
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