IT IS TO be expected that the sex offenders management unit of the Garda Síochána and the relevant State agencies will treat the release of Larry Murphy from Arbour Hill prison extremely seriously. Having served 10½ years of a 15-year sentence for rape and attempted murder, Murphy is regarded as a “high-risk” individual. Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern has acknowledged that his freedom from jail is “understandably a cause of concern”.
It is important that the community at large – and vulnerable women in particular – are reassured that all possible precautions are being taken to ensure their safety. The Sex Offenders Act obliges former prisoners to liaise with the Garda and to notify them about where they intend to reside within seven days. Apart from that, the Garda can and do undertake on-going surveillance in particular cases. That is as it should be. Although it is impossible to legislate against future breaches of the law, precautions that minimise such an occurrence are welcome initiatives.
Something of a media frenzy has developed in relation to this case. As the release date drew near, speculation about Murphy’s possible involvement in other cases where young women had disappeared, has intensified though the Garda has uncovered no supporting evidence to link him to these events. Growing public concern led to local newspapers in different areas carrying reports he was going to live there. Family members living in Co Wicklow felt harassed by photographers and journalists. His brother, Tommy, spoke of his children being made virtual prisoners in their own home for the past five weeks. That is unacceptable.
For the media, there is a thin line between reflecting genuine public concerns in such cases and setting out to inflame them. Crossing that line through the kind of lurid and incendiary reporting that has been evident in recent days causes unnecessary worry to vulnerable women and concerned communities; it can hurt innocent families and increase the likelihood that individuals will reoffend. Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre referred to “an element of hysteria” in media coverage that caused unnecessary panic. She was concerned it might encourage a vigilante reaction. She said the matter should be left to the Garda who were very much on top of this particular case.
Genuine concerns exist in relation to sex offenders. Should they receive automatic early prison release for “good behaviour” if they refuse to participate in sex-treatment programmes? Should they undergo a formal risk evaluation before they are let out? And should supervised release orders become the norm? These and other issues about how sex offenders can be regularly checked on and reintegrated into society need to be addressed.
But however unpalatable some people may regard it, international experience shows that monitoring, settled housing with official support, and help in finding work offers the best outcome for protecting women and children from known sex offenders. Hounding former prisoners from place to place is likely to drive them underground and increase the risk of reoffending.