Police refuse to give mum details of sex offender living in street

The woman, who does not want to be identified but lives in the Stockton Lane area, said she learned from reading the "In Court" section of The Press that a man who was on the sex offenders' register was living in her road.

Worried about her two young children, she rang York Police to see if she could find out what kind of sexual offence he had committed - and whether it was against adults or children.

But police and York Magistrates Court told her they could not give her this information because of data protection laws.

She said she then rang police again to be told "everyone is entitled to live somewhere peacefully" and "we can not give out any information for your curiosity".

The woman claimed she was told by police that "you can be on the sex offenders' register for everything from a minor sex conviction to paedophile."

But she said: "I would like to know what classes as a minor sex offence.

"Having just spent three days trying to find more information to see if my children and myself are safe I have got nowhere. It looks like I will have to ask other people who live near me if they know anything. This is what the police don't want, but what other option do I have?"

She said: "I really do believe that if you have got somebody like that living close to you, you should know.

"If he has committed a crime against a child at least we would know what he has done so we can protect our children."

North Yorkshire police spokesman Tony Lidgate said the sex offenders' register existed mainly to enable police and other agencies to monitor and supervise sexual offenders on their releases into the community. He said the last thing police wanted was Chinese whispers, the spread of rumours and vigilante mobs. All registered offenders would be risk assessed and monitored, "but they have got to live somewhere".

There may be exceptional circumstances in which police would divulge information about someone on the register to those who needed to know - such as a prospective employer - on a confidential basis, Mr Lidgate said.

The sex offender was featured in the "In Court" section of The Press earlier this month, when he was given 12 months' conditional discharge by magistrates for failing to comply with the notification requirements of his order.

Under those requirements, anyone on the register must notify the authorities of a change of address, a change of name and provide full identity details at the initial registration.

June Briggs, whose teenage daughter, Natalie Hick, was almost abducted by Terry Delaney at a bus stop, said: "I think it's terrible and there should be something in force so parents can protect our children.

"The police do an amazing job but they can't protect our children like we can, they have other priorities.

"I can empathise with what she is going through because when Delaney is released from prison this year I am not going to know where he is."

We launched our Change It! Campaign after June and Natalie spoke out about how Delaney could not be registered as a sex offender because the offence was not covered by the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

Megan's Law gives US parents more rights

PARENTS in America - unlike those in the UK - have access to information on paedophiles living in their local area under legislation known as Megan's Law.

The law - which was signed by President Bill Clinton and has been adopted in some form by all 50 states - arose from the rape and murder of seven-year-old Megan Kanka.

She was killed by Jesse Timmendequas, a known child molester with two previous convictions for sexual offences, who had moved across the street from her family without their knowledge.

Megan's mother campaigned for a change in the law to give parents access to information on paedophiles in their area.

Parents must now be informed when offenders move into their local area after being freed from prison and 15 states list offenders' details on the internet, allowing parents to enter their post code to check if anyone on the register has moved in nearby.

Sara Payne, whose daughter eight-year-old daughter, Sarah, was abducted and murdered by paedophile Roy Whiting in July 2000, has been campaigning for a similar law to be introduced in the UK.

Whiting, who was sentenced to life in prison, had previously kidnapped and indecently assaulted a nine-year-old girl in 1995.

Sarah's mum launched a campaign for Sarah's Law, allowing parents access to information about paedophiles in their community.

She also set up the Phoenix Survivor charity - backers of our successful Change It! Campaign - with Shy Keenan to support victims and lobby for their rights.

300 registered sex offenders living in county

There are currently about 300 registered sex offenders living in North Yorkshire and about 29,000 people on the register in all. Registered offenders range from those who committed sexual offences such as groping to people convicted of possessing indecent photographs of children to rapists. Depending on the nature of their offence, some offenders remain on the register for life: others are taken off the register after a certain number of years.