- The Lucy Faithfull Foundation believes that child sexual abuse is preventable and that we can have a society where children are free from sexual abuse and exploitation.
- Our purpose is to safeguard children and young people from sexual abuse by preventing it and responding to it.
- Our vision is of a society where children are free from sexual abuse and exploitation.
- Our mission is to prevent abuse from happening by working in partnership with voluntary and statutory sector professionals as well as the general public.[/breakout]
Brian Heath says men and women who believe they may be attracted to children or have urges to look at indecent images online can contact their service for help.
He added that he thought this would help reduce the number of sex offenders appearing in court.
Probation offers open sessions for Islanders in need of help, for any reason, in the afternoon from 1.30 pm to 5 pm Monday to Friday.
On Tuesday 24-year-old Daniel McLoughlin, who had no previous convictions, was sentenced to 12 months in prison for downloading 161 indecent images of children – more than half of which fell into the two most serious categories.
The defendant told police he had never sought help and described his downloading of the images as a ‘compulsion’.
Today Mr Heath said help was available but if crimes had already taken place they did have a duty to report them to the police.
‘It is always better to work with people before the event,’ he said.
‘It is not an everyday occurrence for people to contact us but it has happened in the past.
‘It tends to be people we have seen in the past who are continuing to have concerns about their behaviour.
‘But we do get people come to us from time to time and we can help.’
Mr Heath, who said Islanders with sexual urges towards children could also contact their GP or the Samaritans, said he recognised it was difficult for people to talk about such urges.
But he added it was important that they did not hide because if they had committed a crime the police would find them eventually.
‘Police technology is getting better and if they don’t speak about it they will end up getting an unexpected knock at the door,’ he said.
During the court hearing on Tuesday McLoughlin claimed he was abused as a child by a family friend.
Find out how to contact Jersey’s branch of the Samaritans here
Asked if it was the case that many sex offenders had themselves been abused as children, Mr Heath said: ‘It is not unusual.
‘But it is not to say that everyone who has been abused goes on to commit offences.
‘That is certainly not the case.
‘But it is certainly not uncommon.’
Last year Donald Findlater, an expert on child sex offenders who works with the UK’s Lucy Faithful Foundation, which runs a helpline for people seeking help, said there was research to suggest that as many as two per cent of the adult male population could be paedophiles but most never acted on their urges.
The States police directed anyone who believed they may have a problem to the UK-based Lucy Faithful Foundation, which runs the StopItNow hotline which several Islanders have contacted.
And the Health Department said they had no provisions in place to deal with Islanders who have sexual thoughts about children.
But now the Probation Service say they can help and are are urging people with any hidden problems, including paedophilic tendencies, to contact them immediately
Probation:
David Trott, team leader at the Jersey Probation Service, said that since 2006 they have offered specialist support to Islanders who have sexual urges towards children whether they have committed a crime or not.
However, it is not believed that anyone has used the service to address paedophilic tenancies before committing a crime.
James Lynch, one of 11 probation officers in the Island, agreed and said that the Probation Service have a duty of care to all Islanders.
He added that the rise of the internet had provided a portal to people who have sexual urges to act upon them.
‘The message we want to give out is that there is an open door policy.
‘If someone walks through the door and says they are having sexual urges toward children, they are going to hurt their partner or they have problem with drug abuse then we will help.’
Mr Trott added: ‘We cannot offer absolute confidentiality.
‘If we received information about previous crimes that were unknown we would have to pass that onto the police.
‘If someone came in and said “can I see a probation officer – I am really concerned about what is going on in my head sexually” we would sit down and listen.
‘We would go through a similar process of assessment that we would for people who have come out of prison.’
Case studies
The sex offender:
CHRIS is a sex offender.
He has served time in La Moye Prison for downloading indecent images of children – although the exact details of his offence have not been revealed.
‘There were issues in my head for years,’ he admitted.
They were issues that eventually tore his life apart.
Since his conviction Chris, who is a father, has lost everything – his family and his friends have all turned their back on him.
He is no doubt that if he had been aware of a pre-emptive service where he could go and speak about his demons in confidence it may have changed his life.
‘I realise actions that I pursued were against the law.
‘But if there was a body set up that I knew I could go to that is totally away from anyone that could cause me repercussions then that would be absolutely beneficial.
‘It’s a very private for them but if they knew there was a body set up that they could approach in total confidence and they could get help before their thoughts turn into a major problem then that is all for the good.’
Asked if he was attracted to children, Chris said: ‘It is a very debatable.
‘What is sexuality?
‘I could never say 100 per cent yes I am or no I am not.’
The psychologist:
‘PREVENTION is always better than cure and anything we can do to stop the potential harm to children is a good thing.’
Those are the words of Dr David Briggs, a specialist forensic psychologist who offers training and support to probation staff across Britain, including Jersey.
Dr Briggs, who is based in the UK, has been mentoring probation officers in the Island since 2006 on the techniques to rehabilitate both convicted child sex offenders and those who may not have committed a crime but contact the service in a desperate plea for help because they are having sexual thoughts about children.
And he has a message for Islanders who believe they may have a problem.
‘If anyone who believes they have a problem should read this I would urge them to come forward, make contact and seek help,’ he said.
‘It is not something we can be relaxed about, ignore or shy away from.
‘The reality is that there are people in our society who have sexual thoughts towards children who occasionally have urges to act on those thoughts and it is our moral obligation to help them.
‘Clearly there is a wide abhorrence of any child being molested or abused but I think there is an element of society that appreciates the fact that this is not necessarily just a select few people who have these urges.’
Dr Briggs, who has published a book called Managing Men Who Sexually Abuse, said he had no reason to discredit previously reported figures that suggest as many 1,000 men in the Island could be hiding sexual attractions to children.
‘I think as a society we are encouraging more open discussion of paedophilia and we are beginning to see evidence that we can make an impact,’ he added.
Dr Briggs, who praised Jersey’s Probation Service as one of the most dedicated he has ever seen, said research is starting to come to light to show that there may be a biological predisposition to paedophilia.
He said that, combined with issues of neglect, maltreatment or sexual trauma in a person’s childhood were factors behind why some people develop and act on sexual urges toward children.
‘We can’t ignore the victim not least because we want to deal with their immediate trauma but also because we don’t want them to go on and become abusers,’ he added.
