Police Sex Offenders’ Unit use parental software to monitor offenders' internet use    

Thames Valley Police have teamed up with Kidshield Europe to supply filtering software to help monitor the online activities of known sexual offenders convicted of internet- related offences against children.

The Sex Offenders Act 2003 states that police may apply to the courts for a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) which imposes specific conditions that offenders have to adhere to. Previously there have been limited conditions that related to the internet and typically these were around restricting the use of the internet for work and recreational purposes, without any effective methods of policing this activity.

Thames Valley Police gained the backing of the Crown Court Judicial system to stipulate conditions in the Sex Offenders Prevention Order (SOPO) to prevent individual offenders’ access to the Internet without supervision. This condition allows the Force to block access to certain websites or web content on the convicted sex offenders’ computer through the use of parental software.

Protect your children online - Download the same software used by Thames Valley Police

Following this success at court, Det Sgt Sam Hayward from the Buckinghamshire Public Protection Unit approached Kidshield Europe to provide internet filtering software to make this possible. Det Sgt Hayward believes his team of detectives are the first in the UK to use this type of software to help manage registered sex offenders. He said: “This is the biggest breakthrough we’ve had to help manage internet offenders since the introduction of the Sex Offenders Act 2003.”

Kidshield’s internet filtering tools allow public protection officers to:
- monitor and control which websites convicted offenders visit
- control peer-to-peer sharing of information and images
- use filter settings to limit access to instant messaging, newsgroups and chatrooms
- set time control limits
- receive notification when an offender attempts to access a banned area of the internet
- view reports on managed offenders’ online footprint
- have the ability to remotely manage the online habits of every convicted sex offender

Det Sgt Hayward added: “As part of a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), judges are now allowing us to install this software on offenders’ computers and stop them from accessing inappropriate material, which means that once they have been sentenced and are back in the community, it will make it very difficult for them to use a computer to re-offend – whether that offence is by way of online grooming of minors, downloading indecent images of children or swapping files with other abusers via peer to peer software.

“I am very pleased about the level of control and functionality Kidshield software gives us. As soon as an offender tries to access a suspicious website, a detective from the Public Protection Unit will receive a notification by email. That notification could provide us with vital evidence that the offender may have breached their order, which holds a penalty of up to five years imprisonment.

“To prevent offenders from tampering with the software or using another computer, the judges have also provided another condition on the SOPO to manage this by giving us the power to enter offenders’ homes to inspect their computer systems.

”We are going to trial this software in Buckinghamshire and have already installed the software on one sex offenders’ computer. If successful it will be rolled out across the whole of Thames Valley area.”

Angela Fagan from Kidshield Europe said: “The problem of sex offenders accessing the internet unsupervised is a major concern. Where children go, child sex offenders will follow and Thames Valley Police should be applauded for taking this step in tackling the problem of online predators at its very core.

“The Kidshield ranges of internet filtering tools are specifically designed to manage and protect children online. Using patented technology, we can tackle the problem of online sexual offenders in a two-pronged approach. Children can be protected from home and school while they surf the net and UK police forces can ensure that convicted sexual offenders can be monitored from their point of entry online.”
 

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Nearly a third of young people have received unwanted sexual comment online or by text. Just 7% of parents know their child has been subjected to such material.  4.2 million websites contain indecent images 100,000 websites contain indecent images of children

Source: Ceop

Children and young people often place themselves at risk online by engaging in risky, cybersexual behaviour. These situations could have been prevented if young users had been sufficiently empowered to stay in control of their personal information online or recognise and take steps to protect themselves from risky engagement with suspicious contacts.  Source:  CEOP

Get Educated and Get Safe

"Because they are upstairs and they're quiet doesn't mean they're safe. 

They're no more safe upstairs on the Internet than they are out in the park at 2 O'clock in the morning"

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