Gardaí monitoring 25 freed convicted sex offenders in one county
A senior Garda said today that Garda members in Clare are currently keeping tabs on around 25 freed convicted sex offenders living in the county,
At the Joint Policing Committee (JPC) meeting in Ennis, Chief Supt John Kerin said that the sex offenders, as part of requirements under the Sex Offenders Act, provide gardaí with their address and any change of address.
He said: “Every one of them is monitored based on the scale of their offending over the years. Some are more high profile than others, but every single one is visited on a regular basis by gardaí trained in that area to ensure that the monitoring continues.”
Chief Supt Kerin said: “There is ongoing engagement with those people.”
The top Garda in the Clare division said that gardaí had recently passed on details of a sex offender from Clare who had moved out of the country and the person recently committed a sex offence in continental Europe.
At the JPC meeting, Supt Brendan McDonagh told members that cyber bullying is on the rise, albeit from a very low base, and Chief Supt Kerin said his own personal opinion is that smart phones should be banned from children.
He asked: “Personally, I am in favour but how would you enforce such legislation? I can’t see how any agency would be able to enforce such a thing.”
Chief Supt Kerin said that he did not have an age in mind over a ban, stating that different children mature differently.
Chief Supt Kerin said that he has two grand-children aged four and 11 “and I would hate to see them being accessed online by people they don’t know”
The senior Garda said that is up to parents to monitor their children’s online activity.
Chief Supt Kerin also told the JPC that Clare Gardaí are currently drawing up asset profiles for the Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) on 30 individuals living in Clare who Garda believe have accumulated their wealth unlawfully.
He said: “These are people driving around in flash cars and have no visible means of income.”
Chief Supt Kerin said: “We are working hand in hand with the Criminal Assets Bureau on this and will be sending files to CAB when complete. We are focusing on people who have nice cars and nice houses and who are not working."
He said: "It can be a long process, but I am confident that this profiling will produce results."
