CHILDREN'S advocate Sheelagh Cooper has called for a change in the law so that accused paedophiles can be named when they are charged.

Currently, the law does not allow the identities of accused sex offenders to be revealed until they are actually convicted.

The law is designed to protect the identities of the victims, but Ms Cooper said it was more important for the community ? and particularly parents ? to know who had been charged of sex assaults on children, even if those accusations were not proven.

"When people are accused of murder, their names are made public," Ms Cooper, who chairs the Coalition For The Protection of Children, said. "So there is no reason why we should protect an accused paedophile from being named.

"We need a change in the legislation. Either we should name everyone after they are charged and before they are convicted, or we should name no one.

"The standard reason for doing it is to protect the identity of the victim. But I have never spoken to a victim of a paedophile, or member of a victim's family, who did not want the accused to be named ? even if the victim would be identified by it."

Ms Cooper said the evidence of young victims was sometimes not taken seriously enough by the courts and, as a result, many paedophilia cases were dismissed unjustly. Consequently, paedophiles who had been caught and charged, were allowed to go free without anyone knowing their identity.

"The problem is that there is a low rate of conviction in this area," Ms Cooper said. "We have a come a long way, but there's still a long way to go.

"For example, last year there was a case thrown out because the judge took the word of the defendant over the word of a little boy. I happen to know that the accused paedophile is now working in a school.

"Paedophilia is a widespread problem in Bermuda.

"Fifteen years ago, we hardly heard of a case, but that doesn't mean it wasn't happening. It's hard to say whether it's got worse or whether we've got better in detecting and prosecuting it.

"There is definitely a much higher level of awareness of it among the police and the community. Twenty years ago, these cases did not come to court so much because then the word of children was considered unreliable."

Ms Cooper was speaking after the sentencing this week of former police officer John Malcolm White, who was jailed for 25 years after being convicted of ten counts of sexual assault against young boys.

Ms Cooper praised the sentence meted out by Supreme Court Justice Carlisle Greaves.

"This was the first sentence I've seen handed down that accurately reflects the seriousness of these crimes and their impact on vulnerable children," she said.

"This sentence is more likely to be effective as a deterrent than most of the sentences that have been handed down for similar offences in the past. This was a particularly heinous crime as the offender not only had a position of trust, but a position of power over the victims, and, as such, he deserves the full extent of the sentencing capacity that the court has.

"Our hope is that this time is sufficient for some serious work to be done with this individual in an attempt to return him to the community as a productive member.

"In the meantime, his victims require a good deal of care and nurturing in order to fully recover from this devastating experience.

"The harm that such crimes do goes beyond what most people would think. It takes a very long time for a victim to fully recover."