Paedophile is allowed to live close to playground

Probation service digital map failed to identify the park opposite his home

- BY NICOLE WOOTTON-CANE

A NOTORIOUS paedophile has been allowed to live just metres from a children’s playground in Heywood without the knowledge of the probation service, the Observer can reveal.

Digital maps used by the probation service initially failed to ‘identify the presence of the park’ directly opposite the home where Todros Grynhaus is living, correspondence shared with the Observer shows.

The Probation Service said the decisions around where a sex offender lives are based on ‘particular risks an individual poses’ and are ‘actively monitored on an ongoing basis’

Elsie Blundell, Heywood’s MP, has written to the Probation Service about her ‘grave concerns’ and said: “Sexual offenders released from custody have no place near settings or local amenities frequented by children or young people.”

The Guardian understands there is another individual residing at the property and has therefore taken the decision not to publish the exact location.

The community where Grynhaus lives is aware of his convictions, and some residents said they no longer allow their children to play in the park, adding they felt ‘angry’ he had been allowed to live on what they described as a ‘family estate’

Greater Manchester Police says it continually reviews risk assessments, which take place alongside ‘statutory partners, including the Probation Service!

Grynhaus, a successful businessman and father-of-ten who enjoyed high standing in Salford’s tight-knit ultra-Orthodox community, was jailed for over 13 years in 2015 after a jury found him guilty of seven sex offences against two young girls between 1996 and 2004.

The court heard he subjected one teenage girl to a campaign of abuse over three years, repeatedly groping her and even taking her to a hotel and molesting her in the jacuzzi.

A second victim, also a teenage girl, was groped by Grynhaus over a three-month period.