Abused Children 'Put At Risk During Supervised Visits'

By Eilish O'Regan
Originally published in the Irish Independent, July 12, 2001

Improper supervision of sex offenders during family visits puts abused children in danger of more attacks, a report warned yesterday.

The supervision given by health boards is "seriously inadequate" says the Children at Risk in Ireland (CARI) Foundation, which provides counselling and therapy for those affected by sexual abuse.

As a result "there is a real danger of further abuse occurring in these situations to children whom the courts have already decided are at risk and in need of protection."

It said each health board should appoint approved and suitably trained supervisors who would be available at access times.

They would also provide more feedback to the judiciary on the outcomes and implications for some children of allowing informal personal supervision, the foundation's report added.

National Director, Mary Flaherty, said the supervised access is supposed to ensure the child's safety.

"It is simply not good enough to have the supervisory role catered for in some imprecise, ad hoc way," she said.

Sometimes the supervisor is a friend of the offender, she said.

"We know enough about the complex ways in which sex offenders sometimes in collusion with others can manipulate their victims to know that this kind of casual approach to supervision carried clear risks of its own."