Debate contribution: Child Sex Offenders
Debate contribution by Mrs Naomi Long on .
- MLA
- Mrs Naomi Long
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 24 June 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution (made as a minister)
- Business
- Oral Answers to Questions
- Heading
- Child Sex Offenders
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5046767
Read the official Assembly record
Text
I am not suggesting that: I am suggesting that, where there is a risk and the police deem it proportionate, they will notify local families of an issue. Child safeguarding is the priority, so the police and other agencies can proactively disclose information about offenders, but that has to be proportionate, and it is critical that the criminal justice agencies operate lawfully. Case law has determined that disclosure must be proportionate to the risk posed, necessary for public protection and in accordance with the law, so automatic disclosure in all cases is unlikely to be lawful. That is in line with the approach in other parts of the UK and in the Republic of Ireland. Automatic disclosure could lead to members of the public being wrongly identified as sex offenders, because there are rules on the information that can be disclosed. From my perspective, the important thing is this: if anyone is concerned about an individual who behaves at all inappropriately or suspiciously around children, they should report that to the police and seek the disclosure of any history that that individual might have.
184 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.04 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.92).
- No identity-based framing was identified (1.00).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.03 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.02 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.01 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.02 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.03 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.92 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.04 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 1.00 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.00 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 0.47 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.42 |
| Sexism, misogyny, ageism and other equality groups | 0.07 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.04 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:52 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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