Child sex offenders gravitate to church

Church leaders are to discuss how to deal with the high number of
child sex offenders who attend services regularly.

Monitoring by police and probation services suggests that between
half and three-quarters of known sex offenders go to church.

David Pearson, director of the Churches’ Child Protection Advisory
Service, said: “Although many churches have highly developed child
protection policies, others have been extremely lax and, in some
cases, even irresponsible.”

He said churches needed to balance support and understanding of
offenders with the safety of children.

The organisation will hold a conference next month on the issue.