Parental rights and paedophiles: How I exposed a legal anomaly
麻豆社 correspondent Sanchia Berg takes us through more than a decade of reporting from the family courts, and how she uncovered a glaring legal anomaly in the system.
Journalists have been permitted to attend hearings at the Family Courts since 2009. But it wasn't until January of 2023 that the media were allowed to report from there as part of a pilot scheme. They had to ensure that those involved remained anonymous. This is how the 麻豆社 correspondent Sanchia Berg came to meet Bethan, which isn't her real name. Bethan's ex-husband was sent to prison for child sexual abuse. He was barred from contact with children, and yet he retained his parental rights over their daughter. Sanchia's reporting led to a proposed change in the law around paedophiles and parental rights. This is the story of how that happened.
Image credit: 麻豆社
