THE CASE of the prowling paedophile police are powerless to stop until he reoffends and that of two other child sex offenders going to the High Court to prevent police alerting the community to their presence have landed Home Secretary Jack Straw with a dilemma.

For what real or fair restraints can a free society place on such offenders once they have been released from prison and served their punishment?

True, the new register of convicted paedophiles comes into force soon, requiring anyone convicted or cautioned for child-sex offences to keep police informed of their addresses, with up to six months in jail if they do not.

But while it is, of course, prudent for the police to be kept aware of the whereabouts of such people - though, even with the threat of jail, this system still requires the co-operation of offenders to make it work fully - what about ordinary people, especially parents?

As we see with the two paedophiles going to court - with the help of legal aid - the police could find themselves legally handicapped in warning families or schools of the presence of convicted sex offenders in their midst.

That would make the register a flawed deterrent. And though Mr Straw hints today that he will strengthen it by letting officers warn families they fear could be targeted by perverts and even alert youth club leaders if a paedophile sets up home in the vicinity, it is clear that this response will be limited and selective.

For witness the words of Home Office minister Alun Michael who says that judging when members of the public should not be given information will not always be easy.

In others words, the community may be warned of some sex offenders, but why not all?

True, blanket "naming and shaming" of convicted paedophiles would, in effect, mean they never ceased being punished once they had served their time in jail - as they would become immediate outcasts in the community.

Yet if that prospect poses a dilemma for our justice minister, ought not that concern be outweighed by the right of every innocent child to be as free as possible from the unspeakable lust of paedophiles?

It is a quandary this newspaper resolved for itself last year when it published the name and address of a convicted child-sex offender who has set up home near a primary school. We did it out of a sense of public duty and plain common sense. Mr Straw should do likewise.

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