Having exhausted all the crime shows on Netflix during lockdown, we've been patiently waiting for something new to hit our screens. Thankfully there's a new BBC documentary dropping this month, so mark your diaries for Thursday, 20th August.
Can Sex Offenders Change? follows Becky Southworth as she steps into the unsettling world of sex offender rehabilitation, meeting the sex offenders who are currently living amongst us in an attempt to understand their horrific crimes.
A matter that is close to home for Becky, her father was convicted of sex offences against children and received 10 years in prison where he undertook a sex offender rehabilitation programme. Becky has had no contact with her father since his release, but the question of whether rehabilitating sex offenders is even possible is something that has weighed heavily on her mind, and she explores what treatments are available during the course of the documentary.
Filmed across the UK in anonymous locations, Can Sex Offenders Change? sees Becky meeting a growing group of offenders who have received treatment in their community, but have never been sent to prison.
This isn't the first time the BBC has tackled this harrowing subject. Back in 2018, Stacey Dooley flew to Florida to confront the quandary of what to do with convicted paedophiles when they are released from custody in Stacey Dooley Investigates: Second Chance Sex Offenders. Once sex offenders leave prison in Florida, they are put on a publicly available register for life - not like in the UK where the names go on a register but aren't made known to the public - and takes a harder line with residency restrictions enforced. As a result of these living restrictions, offenders have retreated to live in remote parts of Florida, away from built up areas.
What's sure to be an eye-opening watch on whether sex offenders can really change, this is one documentary you won't want to miss.
'Can Sex Offenders Change?' airs on BBC One on Thursday, 20th August at 10.45pm
Featured Image Credit: BBC