A woman who set up a Facebook group ‘outing’ convicted sex offenders in Guernsey received a string of “abuse and threats”, many from fake accounts.
Predators in Guernsey was set up in November by Zadie – not her real name – to “spread awareness, as Guernsey doesn’t have a sex offenders register”.
Zadie told Express she had received threats to “smash my face in” and petrol bomb her house, while she was home with her partner and children.
She announced on Tuesday she was planning to close the group – which has more than 4,000 members – because “out of control” abuse was “taking a toll” on her mental health.
However, Zadie reversed the decision later in the day, adding: “I didn’t realise how much people really did care about this page.”
‘Bang out of order’
Zadie said she had added four new admins to the group, which would “take a massive load off me” and allow her to “have a breather”.
The group ‘names and shames’ convicted sex offenders on the island, including child sex offenders.
She said the group’s original aim – of pressuring the States to introduce a public sex offenders’ register – remained in place.
Zadie said it was “bang out of order” that sex offenders often appear to receive much more lenient sentences than people charged with drugs offences.
“If you sell a bit of weed you get years in prison, but if you rape, take photos, videos or groom children you get a couple of years – then you get protected once you’re out of prison,” she said.
A petition set up by Zadie calling for a register currently has more than 600 signatures.
Sentencing guidelines
The Committee for Home Affairs told Express in October that it had started work to review sentencing policies, after its predecessors set the ball rolling in the last States.
Speaking after the Court of Appeal reduced a young man’s sentence for importing controlled substances into Guernsey, Deputy Marc Leadbeater said his team had already started looking at what work might be carried out under a review of the Justice Framework – which could include proposing changes to sentencing guidelines.
The President of Home Affairs was unable to comment on any specific case but said the work had started.
“… a review of sentencing policy is highlighted as part of the Justice Framework, which was approved by the Assembly last term, and the Committee has directed initial scoping of this work to be progressed alongside the Committee’s other priorities,” he said.