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Police Scotland deny labeling pedophiles as ‘child-attracted’ in major report after coming under fire for the term ‘deeply disturbing’
- The term was used in a performance evaluation document over the past year.
- Conservatives warned many would find the language ‘deeply disturbing’
- But Police Scotland have emphasized that the term was quoted from another group
Police Scotland have denied labeling pedophiles as “child-attracted” in a major report after it was criticized for the term “deeply disturbing”.
The document, which assessed the performance of the force over the past year, notes that Police Scotland has been working to support a European project to “counter the effects of child sexual exploitation”.
Detective Chief Superintendent Sam Faulds, Police Scotland’s head of public protection, said: “We fully condemn anyone who commits sexual offenses against children, whether they are individuals or organized pedophile rings, and we work tirelessly to bring them to justice. “.
“Police Scotland do not use the term child-attracted person to describe this type of offender and any suggestion completely misrepresents our position.
Police Scotland have come under fire for describing pedophiles as “people attracted to minors” in a crucial end-of-year report (file image)
‘The term referenced in a Police Scotland report in June 2022 was quoted from proposal documents for the establishment of Project Horizon, a European consortium to address child sexual abuse and exploitation.
‘At the first meeting of the consortium, in Warsaw in September 2022, Police Scotland officers successfully lobbied for the term MAP to be removed from the recognized terminology used by over 20 European partners.
“Our opinion was that the term was completely unacceptable to describe someone involved in sexual offenses against children or having indecent thoughts towards them.
“Police Scotland’s National Child Abuse Investigation Unit works closely with partners to investigate all reports of child sexual exploitation, identify and apprehend abusers and reduce their opportunity to commit sexual offences, both physically and physically. digital space”.
The report stated: “The main agenda of this project is to develop the understanding and approach to prevent the victimization of children through the involvement of child-attracted persons (MAP) and to provide them with the necessary support, treatment and guidance to help prevent criminal activities.
A Scottish Conservative spokesman told MailOnline many would find the language used to neutralize sexual preference for children “deeply disturbing and wrong”.
They said: ‘Pedophilia-related crimes are among the most heinous and unforgivable crimes anyone can commit, and it is essential that Police Scotland’s guidance reflects this.
“Most Scots will find any attempt to soften the language on pedophilia in official guidance deeply disturbing and wrong.”
Children’s campaign group UsForThem Scotland also said it was “appalled” by the idea that pedophiles were “being rebranded as MAPs”.
A spokesperson said: ‘We are seeing ongoing issues relating to the protection of children, both in and out of school.
‘This is not an acceptable sentence. We should never normalize pedophilia.
“Imagine if the police normalized rape or murder by similarly rebranding them.”
Outrage also erupted on Twitter, with one user posting: ‘Wake up parents! And anyone who cares about the safety of children! There is a ‘MAP’-creep as I talked about in a recent video! What a shame that Police Scotland is calling pedophiles – people attracted to minors – MAPs! How dare you!”
Another added: “It’s clear our institutions are taking #bekind too far.”
Despite the complaints, Police Scotland stressed that the force does not use the term “child-attracted persons” in reference to pedophiles.
The force noted that the reference has been quoted from the proposed agenda of an EU group.
A spokesman said: ‘Police Scotland do not use the term Person Attracted to Minors. The reference in the 2021/22 Police Performance Review was related to our engagement with the Horizon Project EU consortium to address child sexual abuse and exploitation.
‘The term was used in the consortium’s start-up documents and is more commonly used on the mainland.
“Representatives of Police Scotland successfully lobbied in September for the consortium not to use the term MAP.”