FAMILIES will be able to find out if people who look after their children are sex offenders in a major victory for the Sarah's Law campaign.
On Wednesday, Home Secretary John Reid will announce that parents, carers or guardians will be able to check out with police anyone who has regular unsupervised access to a child.

New boyfriends, new family members or even neighbours who keep an eye on kids could be checked out. Professionals such as nannies are already screened.

Checkers will have to sign a pledge not to publicise any information they receive.

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The News of the World's Sarah's Law campaign, set up after the murder of eight-year-old Sarah Payne in 2000, calls for the controlled right of parents to know if there are dangerous sex offenders living locally.

A Home Office source explained that the reform was a big step towards Sarah's Law, saying: "This will enshrine the principle that information about the whereabouts of paedophiles should be disclosed."

Pilot studies of the new powers will begin in the next few months.



IT'S A START

SARAH'S mum Sara writes:
Well done Dr John Reid. Thank you for taking the time to look at Sarah's Law properly.

Just three weeks short of the seventh anniversary of Sarah's disappearance, we finally have a starting point.

What we were asking for, and will continue to ask for, is the right to protect our children from the vile monsters that prey on our innocent children.

We are the carers of the future generations of this world.

I am very happy.