By RIEL MAJOR
NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames has said the Cabinet paper for a proposed sex offender registry is completed and will be submitted soon.
“We at the Ministry of National Security have been working closely with the Office of the Attorney General on this,” Mr Dames told reporters at a recent event.
“We should have that Cabinet paper to Cabinet in a few weeks, so we are well ahead on all of those.
“This is something we take very seriously, and we are determined to get it right.”
The plan for a sex offender registry was introduced in 2013 with an amendment to the Sexual Offences Act after the murder of 11-year-old Marco Archer by convicted child predator Kofhe Goodman.
However, it was never created by the previous administration.Goodman, was sentenced to 55 years in prison, following a retrial in May 2018. The seven years he spent in custody were to be deducted from the sentence.
He had been sentenced to death after his first trial over Marco’s killing, however that was overturned on appeal.
The 11-year-old’s death in 2011 gripped the nation, and also sparked amendments to the Child Protection Act, which established a MARCO Alert system for missing children.
The Child Protection Amendment Act 2014 came into operation on August 26, 2015. The government implemented the MARCO Alert system in July 2016, however it has not been fully utilised.
Comments
TheMadHatter 5 years, 8 months ago
Our country is too small for a sex offenders registry. It will only end up being abused in acts of vengeance and retribution and threats esp during the election season.
The fact the desire is there to single out "sex offenses" apart from just "offenses" when the laws against rape etc already exist - shows how silly it is. An attempt to color information prior to trial by the media and others.
Breaking the law is breaking the law. Anything which paints it otherwise introduces prejudice.
Well_mudda_take_sic 5 years, 8 months ago
You obviously don't care to know whether a pedophile is living next to you with the possibility of preying on your young children if the opportunity arises.
TheMadHatter 5 years, 8 months ago
I dont let my young children go and hang out with the man next door, even though (to the best of my knowledge) he has never before molested children. I don't want mine to be his first.
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