From the BBC Website.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4075156.stm
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<b>Paedophile victim forced to move </b>
The family of a 10-year-old girl sexually abused by a neighbour say they have been forced to move after he returned home following a jail term.
They left the street in Powys, mid Wales, to prevent the child having to pass his home every day.
The family has called for the rules governing the release of convicted paedophiles to be tightened.
Because the girl's attacker served less than a year, no restrictions could be imposed on where he lived on release.
The family insists paedophiles should not be allowed to live near their victims.
The mother of the girl, who cannot be identified said: "It was upsetting for my daughter. I had to watch her every move and if she had to go down the road, she'd have to walk down past his house and I'd have to stand out on the doorstep and just watch her run down the road.
"I didn't think he was going to come back. I thought that once he came out of prison then he was going to be sent somewhere else."
The girl's mother said that the return of the man - who also cannot be identified - to the home opposite had a dramatic impact on her daughter.
"It was stressful seeing her go through what she did and all of a sudden he came back and it was like it was starting all over again," she said.
Explaining how on one occasion, the man "stuck his tongue out" at them, she added: "She (my daughter) wouldn't sleep in her bedroom and didn't want to go to school."
Law change call
After discovering the authorities did not have the power to stop him returning, the girl's mother said she felt she had to move so her daughter could lead a normal life.
"If he had over a year in prison, then they would have had the powers to move him on, but because he only had eight months in prison, they didn't have the powers to stop him going back," explained the woman.
"I didn't like the fact that I had to move, because he was the one in the wrong, but because they couldn't move him then the only way out was for me to move."
Every person in this country has their human rights and any response by any agency has to be proportionate, legal, necessary and properly planned
Chief Superintendent Gwyn Thomas, Dyfed-Powys Police
Dyfed-Powys Police Chief Superintendent Gwyn Thomas insisted the situation had been managed carefully by all the agencies involved.
"The case was carefully managed before this individual was released... and continues to be carefully managed at this moment in time.
"And I think the success of that management by both ourselves and Powys County Council and other agencies is reflected in the fact that there have been no incidents since his release."
Mr Thomas said police had to act within guidelines which protected the rights of all those involved, including the offender.
"Every person in this country... has their human rights and any response by any agency has to be proportionate, legal, necessary and properly planned.
"These are the principles we've adopted in managing this particular incident."
Nick Bourne, leader of the Conservatives in the assembly and AM for Mid and West Wales, said he would be writing to police for details of the case.
"It is clearly wrong that they should have had to move," he said.
"It must have been a living hell to find this man coming back. The whole family were victims twice over. It is absolutely truly appalling.
"It does raise issues for the future because there must be other families potentially in this situation." </font id=yellow>
Suggestions please...
"I can just punch holes in paper for sooo long before I want to see something blow up/fall down "
- Boomer 5th May 2005
Edited by - 44hollowpoint on Jun 09 2005 2:22 PM
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