Statement on Safeguarding Children: Speech by Ed Balls / Department for Children, Schools and Families, 20 November 2008
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/speeches/search_detail.cfm?ID=846
"This is a transcript of the statement by Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families Ed Balls in the House of Commons on 20 November 2008. He talks about the actions taken since the serious case review into the death of Baby P."

Minister announces review over baby's death / The Independent, Tuesday, 11 November 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/minister-announces-review-over-babys-death-1010949.html
"Children's minister Beverley Hughes announced a nationwide independent review of child protection services today after the harrowing death of a toddler. The 17-month-old boy, who cannot be identified, was on the child protection register with Haringey social services in north London. His mother's 32-year-old boyfriend and another man, Jason Owen, 36, were convicted at the Old Bailey today of causing or allowing his death."

Youngsters want more internet protection, says new report / Ofsted, 24 October 2008
http://www.ofsted.gov.uk/Ofsted-home/News/Press-and-media/2008/October/Youngsters-want-more-internet-protection-says-new-report

"Children living away from home, or using social care services, want to feel safer online, be protected from unsuitable sites and have adult supervision, highlights a new report published today by the Children’s Rights Director for England, Dr Roger Morgan. The report, ‘Future care: Children’s advice on future care standards’, follows consultation with 686 children and young people - aged between four and 20 - who attended the 2008 national children’s conference. These youngsters discussed the key issues that they would like to see considered for future inclusion in the National Minimum Standards. “One of these is the need for all children to know about how to stay safe on the internet,” explains Dr Roger Morgan."

Web of evil
Jane's Police Review, 3 September 2008
http://jpr.janes.com/
"When the Met started looking into a web forum containing thousands of photos of young girls last year it sparked the UK's largest-ever deployment of undercover officers in a child protection investigation. The forum contained hundreds of thousands of images of young girls, the majority of whom were pictured in some kind of sexual pose and they were often just dressed in underwear or swimming costumes..."
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Child abuse increases risk for later sexually coercive behavior in some men / EurekAlert, 21 October 2008
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-10/uow-cai102108.php
"Boys who experienced childhood physical or sexual abuse are more likely to use sexually coercive behavior against an unwilling female partner when they are adolescents and young adults."

UK children 'at risk on internet' / BBC, 26 September 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7638533.stm
"UK children are more at risk from web dangers than those from other European countries, a study has found. Almost one in four British youngsters has received unwanted sexual comments online compared to one in 10 in Ireland and Germany, the report said."


London School of Economics study of 7,393 children - The full report is available at www.eukidsonline.net in the section ‘EU kids Online reports’
http://www.eukidsonline.net/

[Scotland] Developing an Acknowledgement and Accountability Forum for Adult Survivors of Childhood Abuse -A Discussion Paper: Acknowledgement and Accountability consultation paper / Scottish Parliament, 10 October 2008
PDF - http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Resource/Doc/240981/0066913.pdf

Paedophiles use internet blackmail to claim victims, says CEOP / The Times 12 September 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4735360.ece
"Paedophiles are publishing an increasing number of sadistic and violent images of younger children on the internet and are abandoning the slow grooming of victims, instead using threats to force them into commiting indecent acts, an intelligence review has found. The review, published today by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), also found evidence that individual paedophiles are running multiple e-mail accounts, sending out hundreds of messages a day to children."

Schemes for giving public information on paedophiles add to risk, says Barnardo’s / The Times, September 15 2008
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article4753637.ece
"A pilot scheme that will allow the public to seek information about paedophiles may put youngsters at greater risk of attack, a leading children’s charity has cautioned. The Home Office scheme will give parents, carers and guardians the right to seek information from the police about whether a person with unrestricted contact with their children has a record for child sex offences or domestic violence."

Britain sets up online child safety watchdog Council will target bullying, pornography, violent video games and self-harm websites / The Guardian, September 29 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/sep/29/childprotection.children
"Cyber-bullying, online pornography, violent video games and websites that encourage young people to harm themselves are to be targeted by a new watchdog launched by the government today. The UK Council for Child Internet Safety (UKCISS) will consist of more than 100 public and private sector organisations working with the government, parents and young people."

Review of Criminality Information: Recommendations / Home Office, 30 September 2008
http://police.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/about-us/review-criminality-recommend?view=Standard&pubID=584561
"This document details the key recommendations issued in a review of criminality information."

Are children safer? The government claims UK legislation against sex offenders is effective, but it has failed to effectively implement the law / Guardian August 22 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/22/ukcrime.childprotection?gusrc=rss&feed=society
"We have probably all had our fill of witnessing the excruciating spectacle of Paul Gadd/Gary Glitter playing musical planes to avoid returning to London for a life of running from tabloid newshounds. Many of us have certainly stomached enough of the home secretary, Jacqui Smith's "tough talking" in her carefully planned press interviews announcing yet more clampdowns on sex offenders. The Home Office has legislated almost every year of the last 11 on sex offenders. But government failure to effectively implement the changes in law means children can only be considered marginally safer. It is high time the home secretary stopped congratulating herself –agreeing press releases announcing tough new laws is one thing: making the laws work is the hard part."

Sex offenders to face lie tests / BBC, 19 September 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7625186.stm
"Sex offenders in some parts of England and Wales could be made to take compulsory lie detector tests to see if they are still a danger to the public. The Ministry of Justice said a pilot scheme would test the use of polygraphs for offenders living in the community."

Lie detector 'will protect public' from paedophiles / Independent.co.uk, Saturday, 20September 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/lie-detector-will-protect-public-from-paedophiles-936366.html
"Sex offenders will be forced to take lie detector tests to assess what danger they pose to the public under a pilot scheme announced yesterday by the Ministry of Justice. Children's and crime reduction charities welcomed testing of paedophiles and sex offenders. They said it would increase confidence in the probation system. The pilot scheme will begin in April and run for three years."

Understanding the Behavioral and Emotional Consequences of Child Abuse
Pediatrics, Vol. 122 No. 3 September 2008, pp. 667-673
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/122/3/667
"Children who have suffered early abuse or neglect may later present with significant behavior problems including emotional instability, depression, and a tendency to be aggressive or violent with others..."

Sarah's Law gives mothers right to make 'sex checks' on partners / Independent, 15 September 2008
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/sarahs-law-gives-mothers-right-to-make-sex-checks-on-partners-930853.html
"Moves to give single mothers the power to check whether new partners are sex offenders could encourage malicious campaigns against innocent men and drive paedophiles underground, the Home Office has been warned.Thousands of parents and guardians will from today gain the formal right to ask police to look into the background of people who have unsupervised access to their children. The scheme is being launched in four areas initially, with a view to extending it nationwide. Ministers said the initiative would help to protect children, but critics warned they could prompt vigilante attacks."

Keeping Children Safe: the Child Sexual Offender Disclosure Pilot / Direct.gov, 14 September 2008
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_171707
"A 12-month Child Sexual Offender Disclosure pilot has been launched in four sites , allowing parents, carers and guardians to formally ask the police to tell them if a person has a record for child sexual offences."

Babies are new target, Met warns as paedophile threat spirals / Guardian, 24 August 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2008/aug/24/childprotection?gusrc=rss&feed=uknews
"Children too young to speak are increasingly being targeted by sex offenders - and members of the professions are among those trawling the net for images."

My husband, the internet paedophile: A tale of secrets, lies and family breakdown / Independent, 24 August 2008
http://digbig.com/4xkgc

Adults easily fooled by children's false denials / EurekAlert, 17 August 2008
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-08/uoc--aef081308.php
"Adults are easily fooled when a child denies that an actual event took place, but do somewhat better at detecting when a child makes up information about something that never happened, according to new research from the University of California, Davis. The research, which has important implications for forensic child sexual abuse evaluations, will be presented Sunday, Aug. 17, at the annual meeting of the American Psychology Association in Boston."