Residents in a Somerset neighbourhood are up in arms at the prospect of convicted child killer and rapist Chesterfield Johnson taking up roost nearby.

The Royal Gazette understands that Police have shown pictures of Johnson, 50, to the two neighbouring schools in the Scott's Hill area - one of which is a nursery school less than 50 yards away from the house where Johnson is alleged to be staying.

And child activist Hilary Soares said Johnson living in the neighbourhood is a "serious threat".

Johnson was convicted of the 1978 murder of young Paget Primary student Connie Furtado.

He was sentenced to death after he brutally raped and strangled the 11-year-old child with her necktie.

But his death sentence was overturned on appeal and reduced to manslaughter - to which he served a 20 year sentence.

Connie's devastated family left the Island and returned to the Azores shortly after her murder.

When contacted, Police media spokesman Dwayne Caines would not confirm whether Johnson was living in the area or whether or not photographs were shown to school children.

However neighbours in the area said he was spotted in the area of one of the schools, which prompted Police to be alerted.

Neighbours also spoke in anonymity about catching signs of the "tall, lanky" Johnson moving about the neighbourhood at "odd, early morning hours".

Johnson had faced heated opposition from community activists and neighbours in the past, following his 1999 release from prison.

At that time he was undergoing regular psychological counselling sessions with the Prison Fellowship.

He along with another convicted rapist, Kenneth (Eggs) Smith roomed together in a St. George's apartment, causing neighbours to become wary.

And since his release he had been relocated several times - now he has landed in the Somerset neighbourhood.

Mrs. Soares warned that Johnson should be closely monitored, saying that his likelihood to re-offend is "great".

She said she sympathised with the Somerset neighbours and said they needed to band together to protect their children.

"As the mother of three children, my heart is in my throat when I hear about this," she said.

"This is such a serious threat. I don't think that sexual predators are ever cured.

"I feel that there ought to be forever ongoing monitoring of him in some way or another.

"In a community such as this, we say we protect our children, but do we really?

"When they truly offend as seriously as he did, we as a society have to do something about it for the protection of children everywhere.

"We have not addressed the problems of the likes of Chesterfield Johnson.

"It's the child out of sight out of mind that I am concerned about."