Mary believes chemical castration would be a waste of time

Plans to offer more drug treatments to child sex offenders to try to stop them committing further crimes have been announced by the Home Office.

Mary - not her real name - whose son was abused, responded to the proposals.

The first time I found out my 11-year-old son was being abused by his grandfather was when my son came downstairs shouting that he wasn't going to let his grandfather touch him again.

When I realised what had been happening, I felt as if I'd let my son down. I felt as if I'd allowed it to happen.

If I hadn't been a mum, I would have killed myself.

It took me a very, very long time to realise that it wasn't my fault but you never, ever forget.

'Angry young man'

The next day the police told us that my son's grandfather had a record and that he had spent time in prison for assaulting another child.

He later admitted two counts of indecent assault. He was sentenced to 12 months in prison but it was deferred to a two-year suspended sentence so he never went to prison.

Ten years later, my son is still paying the price

My son became an angry young man. He went from being manageable to completely unmanageable. He didn't finish school.

If anyone went to touch him, except me, he would hit them. Walls went up at alarming rates.

He's still a very angry young man. He has taken up boxing and says that nobody will ever hurt him again. My son is a very scarred young man.

Life sentences

Chemical castration is a waste of time. It doesn't change a paedophile's way of thinking.

My son would have felt better if his grandfather had gone to prison.

When it's a clear case of guilt then keeping offenders out of society permanently can stop them re-offending. I would advocate life in prison.