People accused of sex crimes shouldn't be given anonymity

[GallicGarlic]

I am positively astonished that, as they face sex crime allegations, MPs say sex crime suspects deserve anonymity.

This will mean no e-fit pictures of suspects, no CCTV releases, no calls for other victims to come forward. AIBU to think this is jolly convenient for serial perpetrators? And to ask you to sign a petition?

How does it work if the person is wanted for another category of crime as well? If someone is wanted on suspicion of rape and murder, are they allowed to be named or not? What if they are wanted for a string of sex crimes which included violence with other names eg GBH, is it OK to release details or not? Would they maybe be allowed to say they were looking for them for the other crimes ie say they were wanted for questioning for the murder or the GBH but not mention the sex elements?

This is clearly about protecting rich and famous people and nothing about protecting victims. The older I realise this. How timely, just as the net is closing in.......

And that's the proof right there! The two men from coronation street who were not found guilty have gone back to being wealthy and famous and people say how terrible it is they were 'lied' about.
Loads of people support ched evans. Mike Tyson still has a very successful career.
Firstly the public think charges dropped or not guilty means the crime didn't happen. That isn't true. secondly rapists are forgiven anyway, their actions justified or minimised. Like Polanski who is defended by movie stars!
How does being accused of rape ruin lives? It clearly doesn't. And such a tiny amount of rapes are false allegations that most of the time it's the lives of actual rapists that are not actually being ruined..

YABU. Innocent until proven guilty. Will not be signing.

"There are real practical concerns about the implications of this, alongside valid questions about why sexual offence suspects should be treated differently to the suspects of any other crime."

Because being accused of a sexual crime can destroy your life, even if your innocent....

One thing is for sure - being a victim is worse than being falsely accused of a crime. There are far more victims who never get justice, than men falsely accused. There are just an awful lot of rapists around who say they were falsely accused, and their loved ones believe them.

I think if Thatcher's government saw the error of bringing in anonymity for the accused, and had it repealed, then this government should take heed of that. They are listening to the likes of Nigel Evans and Paul Gambaccini, and putting far too much weight on their experiences and putting their fame and fortune above the countless victims out there - who don't have a voice as strong as the Nigel Evans of this world.

850, do you not think being accused of murder or arson can destroy your life if you're innocent?

Will you be happy if the police start putting out warnings that "a suspected rapist" might be in your area, with zero information about the suspect?

YY, Rider :( There seems to be a dangerous knee-jerk reaction that threatens to hamper investigations, while not really improving anything for those few that are wrongly accused.

Can you imagine a school warning that somebody who's been seen hanging around the playground is wanted on suspicion of sexual offences against children? Who is this person, you would ask, what do they look like? Oh, we can't tell you that. Protected identity. (This did use to happen when anonymity was in force.) Yet, if they're suspected of pickpocketing, their picture can be circulated.

So the only people this will help are those in the public eye, whilst at the same time hampering all police investigations, public safety and sending the message that victims are usually making it up. Sounds like brilliant legislation if you're in the public eye. Crap if you're anyone else.