A MUM who launched an online petition to stop her daughter’s sex attacker from moving into her street says she has been asked to remove it in case it “offends” the attacker.
The woman, whose 15-year-old daughter was the victim of a sex offence in her own home, has collected more than 200 signatures protesting against Daniel Oliver living nearby when he is released from prison.
Police have confirmed they have made the request to the victim’s family, but said they did so to avoid causing further tensions in the wider community.
Oliver, 21, was sentenced to four months in prison for sexually touching the young girl, who cannot be named, last December.
He had already been convicted of attempting to rape another woman in 2006 and was on licence from a young offenders’ institution when he committed the sex offence against the teenager at her Southampton home.
Her mother is “sickened” that Oliver could be allowed to live just doors away. She says she set up the petition in an attempt to protect her daughter and is “furious”
police have asked her to remove it. “I started it because I’ve tried everything else and the police don’t seem to be able to help,” said the victim’s mother, who has collected a further 150 signatures on paper.
“I’m so angry and I can’t believe what I’m hearing.
They’re saying the petition is offending Daniel Oliver and his family but I’m offended by what he did to my daughter and that he could be allowed to live in our community. The petition is not illegal and I’m not going to remove it.”
Acting Chief Inspector Tony Rowlinson, from Hampshire police, said: “We enquired with the victim’s family as to whether they would be prepared to remove the online petition to help reduce any future community tension in the area.
“There are a lot of issues here and we have a responsibility to all concerned, including the wider community. However it was only a suggestion and we cannot make the family remove the petition.”
Update
Following the original publication of this story, Hampshire Constabulary issued an amended version of the statement they released before the article was published in the Southern Daily Echo.
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