Parents and caregivers convicted of child cruelty could soon face monitoring akin to registered sex offenders, under a proposed new register.
The government expects to table an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill "shortly" to establish the measure, following campaigning by Paula Hudgell.
Mrs Hudgell's adopted son, Tony, suffered horrific abuse from his birth parents. The Home Office confirmed that under the changes, individuals who physically harm children would face closer police scrutiny and similar restrictions.
Tony was just 41 days old when Jody Simpson and Anthony Smith brutally attacked him, causing multiple fractures, dislocations, blunt facial trauma, leading to organ failure, toxic shock, and sepsis.
He was left untreated and in agony for 10 days, and because of the extent of his injuries, both his legs had to be amputated.
Simpson and Smith were jailed for 10 years in 2018.
The register would cover child neglect, child cruelty, abandonment, female genital mutilation (FGM) and infanticide, all of which the Government described as “egregious betrayals of a child’s trust and dependency”.
Those on it would have to tell police if they move house, change their identity, travel abroad or live with children again after serving their sentence.
Sentencing minister, Jake Richards, paid tribute to Mrs Hudgell for her “remarkable fight to ensure no child should go through the life-altering abuse that her son Tony did”.
He added: “Child abusers do not deserve shielding; children do. The Child Cruelty Register will ensure these offenders are visible to the police, allowing authorities to see and act when risks arise.”
Safeguarding minister Jess Phillips said: “It is unforgivable that someone who is supposed to take care of a child would hurt them instead.
“We’ve listened to the Hudgells, and to the many families who feel the system hasn’t done enough to protect some of the most vulnerable people in society, and we are taking vital action.
“Whether it be online, on the streets, in schools, or from their own caregivers – children are being kept safer under this government.”
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