Call for electronic tags on sex offenders
VICTIMS of clerical child sex abuse have called for more stringent monitoring of convicted sex offenders after an Irish paedophile priest started a new life in Scotland running a family guesthouse.
Former priest Bill Carney is understood to have fled the B&B in St Andrews after he was traced to Scotland by our sister paper, the 'Sunday Independent', last December.
He is now living in the Canaries.
Andrew Madden, a victim of clerical sex abuse, said: "He's very dangerous if he's isolated in the Canaries and feels he's on the run. Sending people underground is not a sensible child protection approach."
Satellite
Mr Madden said there should be a multi-agency approach involving gardai, the Probation Service and social welfare services to ensure authorities are aware of an offender's whereabouts at all times.
Mr Madden also suggested the electronic tagging of sex offenders and the use of satellites to assist in tracking their movements.
Carney's former neighbours in the popular Scottish golf resort of St Andrews were unaware of his criminal history.
And because his conviction for the indecent assault of two Dublin altar boys dates to 1983, authorities here were under no legal obligation to monitor his movements or alert Scottish police of his whereabouts.
- Breda Heffernan
Irish Independent
