Parents should alert their children to the dangers posed by strangers, the director of social care at the Foyle Trust in Derry said yesterday. Mr John Doherty made the appeal after learning that parents had seen a convicted paedophile, released on probation from prison, walking near two primary schools.
Last November the paedophile, a youth worker aged 46, was jailed for one year when he admitted sexually abusing three young boys over a 12-month period.
Passing sentence, the then resident magistrate Mr Des Perry said the offender was "a danger to young men and you probably have been a danger for some time. It is frightening what you have done".
Parents have raised the matter of the paedophile's presence with the schools' authorities. The RUC has confirmed an increase in patrols in the area at school opening and closing times.