Girl's family forced to move after paedophile returns

The family of a 10-year-old victim of a sex attack has moved house after the child's tormentor was allowed to return home to the street where they live.

The family of a 10-year-old victim of a sex attack has moved house after the child's tormentor was allowed to return home to the street where they live.

Yesterday the girl's mother demanded a change in the law, saying police were powerless to prevent the man from moving back.

The family from mid-Wales, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, said the return of the man to the home opposite affected their daughter dramatically.

"It was stressful seeing her go through what she did and all of a sudden he came back and it was like it was starting all over again," said the mother.

"I didn't think he was going to come back. I thought that once he came out of prison then he was going to be sent somewhere else."

After discovering that the authorities did not have the power to prevent him from returning, the girl's mother said she felt she had to move to allow her daughter to lead a normal life.

"If he had over a year in prison, then they would have had the powers to move him on but because he only had eight months in prison, they didn't have the powers to stop him going back," she explained. "I didn't like the fact that I had to move because he was the one in the wrong but because they couldn't move him then the only way out was for me to move."

She is calling for a change in the law to stop a similar event happening again.

Nick Bourne, leader of the Conservatives in the Welsh Assembly, said: "It would seem to me sensible in a case like this where the sex offender himself moves out of the immediate area."

A spokesman for Dyfed-Powys Police said several meetings were held with Powys Council but they were powerless to stop the paedophile returning.

Chief Superintendent Gwyn Thomas insisted the situation had been properly dealt with by all the agencies involved.

"The case was carefully managed before this individual was released, carefully managed when he was released and continues to be carefully managed at this moment in time," he said. "The success of that management ... is reflected in the fact that there have been no incidents since his release."

The Dyfed Powys Police spokesman said everything possible had been done for the family. "All appropriate action that was allowable under current legislation was taken," the spokesman said. "All relevant agencies are aware of the case and are monitoring the situation."