Petition Withdraw Parental Responsibility From Parents Who Have Been Charged With Serious Criminal Offenses

If a parent is charged with a serious criminal offence, such as rape, murder, child abuse etc., they should have their parental responsibility fully revoked. As it stands, if a parent who has parental responsibility commits an offence, they’re still entitled to rights over the child; they can access records and prevent a surname change. The child is not safe from the offending parent.

With social media, news now travels faster. If a person is named in the press after being charged, it’s possible to link relatives. We hear so many stories about cyber bullying; it brings an enormous fear to all non-offending parents about their child's safety.

I call upon the Government to create a ruling where the non-offending parent is granted sole parental/legal responsibility of the child. This allows the non-offending parent to change the child's surname, without the offender's permission.
A parent who has committed a serious crime, should have no parental/legal rights over any child.