Member's statement: Child Sex Offenders: Parental Responsibility
Member's statement by Ms Connie Egan on .
- MLA
- Ms Connie Egan
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 29 September 2026
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Child Sex Offenders: Parental Responsibility
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5761213
Read the official Assembly record
Text
When a person in Northern Ireland is convicted of a child sex offence, they are rightly barred from volunteering or working with children. The result of an Access NI check prevents convicted individuals from roles that engage children in the community for reasons of safeguarding and public protection. Why are the same legal protections not extended to the children of those offenders, and what statutory support is available for their families as they come to terms with the most horrendous of crimes by someone whom they once trusted the most? Private family law sits with the Department of Finance, and, last April, I met Minister O'Dowd alongside the NSPCC and Women's Aid to press for the automatic suspension of parental responsibility upon conviction of murder, known as "Jade's law". In fairness to the Minister, that was a constructive meeting, and he took forward our points and committed to working with his Department to make those protections a reality. I have since written to Minister O'Dowd requesting the same provisions when a person is convicted of child sex offences. That follows the bravery of a mother, cited as "Lucy" for anonymity, who came forward to the BBC while she fights a convicted child sex offender for parental responsibility of their shared child. I have since spoken to that incredible woman and to others who have been inspired by her courage to step forward. They have been left exhausted and financially depleted while fighting through the courts to keep their children out of the hands of dangerous individuals. For them, that is seen the same way as handing their child over to a stranger — a dangerous stranger — for the weekend. What else are they expected to do? When a co-parent receives notification from the PSNI about such horrors, the situation must be handled appropriately. Their life has been turned upside down. Officers must be trained on how to handle such sensitive situations compassionately, with clear information available on support pathways for families of offenders as they come to terms with that horrendous abuse of trust. Ultimately, if a person is not safe in the community, how can we reward that same individual with getting to be a parent? Whether access is supervised or restricted, children are still being put at incredible risk, and I know that colleagues in Scotland are reviewing that. We must do better, and I am calling for the removal of parental responsibility for those who commit child sex offences to ensure equal protection for all children across our communities.
423 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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