Risk Assessment and Management of Serious Violent and Sexual Offenders: A review of current issues
APPENDIX TWO
Figure 3: Provisions for Sex Offender Orders |
- a Sex Offender Order is available to a chief officer of police from a magistrates' court if there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant 'has acted' in such a way that an order is necessary to protect the public from the offender;
- negative conditions or 'prohibitions' can be attached to the Orders as thought necessary to achieve protection of the public, (e.g. restricting access to potential victims, or access to particular places);
- an offender subject to an Order has to register under the Sex Offender Act 1997 within 14 days of the order being made (this allows for retrospective registration of offenders);
- Orders run for a minimum of five years;
- offenders can appeal to the Crown Court against the Order being made, and to magistrates' court for variation or discharge; and,
- breach of a Sex Offender Order can carry up to a five-year custodial penalty upon indictment.
(from Cobley, 1997; Power, 1998)
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Sex Offender Orders are civil orders requiring civil standards of proof but carrying a criminal penalty if breached (Power, 1998) 13. The Act encompasses psychological harm as well as physical harm, and importantly introduces negative or prohibitive conditions to control the behaviour of sex offenders 14.