Convicted paedophiles face Internet crackdown

LONDON, Feb 6 (Reuters) Convicted paedophiles may have to register their email addresses and online nicknames with police under new laws designed to protect children using the Internet, the government today said.

A Home Office spokeswoman said child sex offenders could have more details recorded on the Sex Offenders Register in an attempt to stop them from ''grooming'' children online.

''If they give us false details of their name and address they can be punished by up to five years in prison,'' Reid told Sky News. ''What I want to explore is to see whether we can have the same requirement for email addresses and Web identities.'' A system may be developed that would detect offenders trying to use the registered details to visit Web sites where they could target children, he said.

The proposals form part of a Home Office review of child sex offences that is due to released later this year, the spokeswoman said.

The dangers of Internet paedophiles were highlighted this week when three men were jailed for conspiring to kidnap and rape two girls they hoped to meet in Internet chatrooms.

David Beavan, Alan Hedgcock and Robert Mayers used the Internet to put together their plot to kidnap the two girls, aged 13 and 14, take them to woods and rape them.

They were jailed for a total of 27 years yesterday in what police said was the first case in Britain to use cyber chat as evidence.

Reid's proposals came as 100 schoolchildren attended a series of workshops in London designed to educate them about the dangers posed by the Internet.

''We are asking young people to stop and think about the risks they take online,'' said Helen Penn, of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), which is affiliated to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

Nearly a third of young people have received unwanted sexual comment online or by text message, CEOP said. Only 7 per cent of parents are aware that their child has received such material.

Under current laws, sex offenders must register their name, address and national insurance number with police within three days of conviction or release from prison.

They have to confirm their details every year and tell police if they plan to travel abroad for more than three days.

Officers are allowed to take a photograph or the fingerprints of sex offenders on the register.

REUTERS SY RK1630