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Better support call for young sex offenders

7:00pm Thursday 3rd July 2008

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A children's charity is calling for better treatment for young sex offenders after new figures showed that 141 youngsters in the South West were convicted of sexual offences last year.

According to the latest statistics from the youth justice department, 20 offenders came from Dorset, including eight from Bournemouth and Poole. Now the NSPCC is warning that some children who molest others are turning into adult offenders because they are not getting treatment to stop their harmful behaviour.

A quarter of all sexual abuse is committed by children and young people, yet there are inadequate services to address their behaviour.

The charity receives over 1,000 requests for its services each year and waiting lists can be up to several months long.

Staff from the NSPCC's Dorset Sexually Harmful Behaviour team work directly with young people who display worrying tendencies, and with their family or carers.

Last year the team carried out 20 assessments and treated 15 people. They have a short waiting list.

NSPCC spokeswoman Natalie Cronin said: "The sooner you start treating someone who carries out sexual assaults the greater chance you have of stopping the behaviour.

"The majority of children and young people who display sexually harmful behaviour have suffered, or are suffering, abuse of some kind.

"They need advice, support and treatment. We cannot afford to let them fall by the wayside. Without treatment, there is a real danger that children who sexually assault other children will go on to offend in adulthood.

"It is a lottery as to who gets what kind of treatment and it is an issue that needs urgent attention."

The NSPCC is calling on campaigners to lobby their MPs in a bid to push the issue up the political agenda and provide more funding for the training of teachers, doctors and other professionals.

Members of the public can support the campaign at nspcc.org.uk/ campaigns.


Your Say YourBournemouth Echo

wage slave, throop says...
11:39pm Thu 3 Jul 08

Any chance of more help for the VICTIMS ?

2Much, New Forest says...
8:33am Fri 4 Jul 08

wage slave wrote:
Any chance of more help for the VICTIMS ?
On top of that..maybe looking at prevention rather that more money on cures?

fiona, Bournemouth says...
9:44am Fri 4 Jul 08

I dont agree completely that its due to abuse there are wider issues


In my mind, the issue of young sex offenders is indicative of the moral collapse in this country these young people are forming warped attitudes due to the growing sexualisation of our society, where it's cool to treat other human beings as sex 'objects

The music industry and the media both needed to exercise responsibility in how they present females


Ian, Bournemouth says...
10:41am Fri 4 Jul 08

Castrate them and nip the problem in the bud. (Pun well and truly intended)
This sort of behaviour is disgusting and should not be tolerated.
People who carry out and condone this should be thrown in to an asylum.

fiona, Bournemouth says...
11:18am Fri 4 Jul 08

Young people who sexually offend are not usually mentally ill they are deviant

Psychological treatment could help but the real issue is the increasing sexualization of our society and the accompanying moral degeneration!

Sorry to bang on but its a worrying state of affairs

Ive moved the moral higher ground into the back of the band wagon,
please jump on.

Lets be appalled and outraged

Come on... let us knit out brows,wring our hands and despair at the falling standards



Benjamin, Hamworthy says...
5:55pm Fri 4 Jul 08

The increaase in the numbers of young sex offenders, is due to the continuation of the breakdown of law and order. The last eleven years has seen all standards lowered, family values disappearing and the chances of being caught for anything other than motoring offences almost nil!

Dorsetman1986, Wimborne says...
7:04pm Fri 4 Jul 08

Maybe instead of being so ignorant, the people who have just blamed it on the media blamed it on an immoral society, even going so far as to claim that mutilating the offenders is the answer should the ones sent off to St Annes?

There are underlying psychological reasons behind this sort of thing happening. The first one is BAD PARENTING and even parents who might have abused their children themselves! Just look at the statistics and see how many sex offenders were abused as children.

Whoever talked about prevention rather than cures has the right idea - Why fork out endless money on a neverending stream of victims when we should be using it to stop them being victims in the first place?

There are those talking of a moral decline. But what's more of a moral decline - the crimes that occur in this country or those who think they can stop them through bloody mutilation and foolish head on stands against it?

We can ONLY truly prevent crime by UNDERSTANDING it. Something you will never be capable of. Yes, the Media needs to take responsibility for how it influences our young but so do the parents and society as a whole. When it understands what drives people to crime it will be able to start tackling it.

Comments are closed on this article.

Martin Lewis

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