PAEDOPHILES will be entertained at dinner parties and taken 10-pin bowling or to the cinema as rewards for not abusing children.

High-risk child molesters released from prison in Scotland will be assigned volunteer “buddies”, who will help them raise their self-esteem in the hope that this will reduce the likelihood of reoffending.

The scheme is expected to cost £12,500 a year for each paedophile. Its supporters claim that the sex offenders will be discouraged from abusing children for fear of upsetting their new friends.

The Circles of Support and Accountability programme, a Quaker initiative started in Canada in 1994, has the backing of local authorities, social work directors, senior police officers and Sacro, the offenders’ rehabilitation organisation.

Critics claim the programme is a soft option and say the money would be better spent on helping child victims of the offenders.

Ministers are considering an application for £100,000 funding to support the launch of four pilot projects in Scotland next year. David Turner, a Quaker and a member of its steering group, said the initiative would almost certainly go ahead irrespective of financial backing from the executive.

Keith Simpson, Sacro’s head of service development, said several local authorities were keen to run the initiative.

“It would provide an opportunity for people in communities to play a part in reducing the risk,” he said. Paedophiles were more likely to reoffend if they had no regular contact with normal people and were familiar only with their own distorted views on sexual behaviour.

“People develop a greater degree of trust and are prepared to tell other people when they are experiencing temptation and seek help,” he said.

Under the scheme, which runs in parallel with police supervision, six trained volunteers take it in turns to spend up to three hours a day with a paedophile.

The group includes a professional trained to deal with sex offenders, who is responsible for alerting the police to any suspicious behaviour.

At the end of each week all members of the circle come together to share a meal and celebrate the fact that the paedophile has committed no further offences against children.

Parties are thrown to recognise the paedophile’s progress and a cake is baked on his birthday.

The Home Office has funded three pilot befriending schemes in England, which have been running for almost three years. A formal evaluation is due soon, but the government has said the projects have made “a promising start”. There has also been positive feedback from criminal justice professionals, offenders and the volunteers, who are often drawn from church groups.

Supporters claim the scheme has cut the predicted rate of reoffending by released paedophiles in Canada by more than 70%.

Helen Drewery, a Quaker who has helped train volunteers in England, welcomed plans to launch the scheme in Scotland. “It sounds counter-intuitive to offer support to people who have committed awful crimes, but it seems to work,” she said. “These are lonely people with nobody to turn to — and being so makes them more likely to reoffend.”

However the initiative has been criticised by victims’ groups amid mounting concern over the release of convicted paedophiles into the community. Last month Stuart Leggate was found guilty of murdering eight-year-old Mark Cummings, from Glasgow. Leggate lived in the same tower block as his victim and was on the sex offenders register, but families in the area had not been told about his background.

In the wake of the tragedy Cathy Jamieson, the justice minister, announced longer sentences for sex offenders. But she rejected calls for residents to be warned when a sex offender moves to their area.

Bill Aitken, the Glasgow Tory MSP, criticised the Circle of Support programme. “The fact that there is an element of mollycoddling to this will come as a slap in the face to victims and their families,” he said.

“If they pose a threat they should not be set loose — it’s as simple as that. We should not be asking other people, no matter how well-intentioned, to act as policemen.”

Norman Brennan, a police officer and the founder and director of the Victims of Crime Trust, added: “Victims of crime whose lives have been devastated will have every right to be concerned about public funds going to these offenders for treats.

“Rehabilitation should take place in prison for these most serious offenders and it is about time the emphasis was placed on protecting communities and supporting victims.”

A Scottish executive spokesman said: “We are aware of the Circles of Support pilots being funded by the Home Office and are keeping in close touch about their progress. We will await the results of the evaluation before giving any further consideration.”

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