SPECIAL REPORT | Proposed amendments to the Child Act, among others, answer public clamouring for a sex offenders registry to safeguard children following several high-profile cases.

The amendments will see the consolidation of information of sex offenders into a new specialised registry which will be made accessible to the public.

The registry will contain information such as the name, identity card number, details of the offences and photographs of the sex offender.

Unlike the proposed registry, the current registry is not available to the public.

While public accessibility is welcomed by those in the field, some experts question if there are safeguards to protect the rights of the convicts as well. This is especially of concern after the rehabilitation of sex offenders.

According to the Registration of Criminals and Undesirable Persons Act 1969, offenders now remain on the current list for 70 years.

But Nuraisyah Chua Abdullah (photo) believes this needs to change.

“The law in other countries are very much progressive - the seriousness of the rape conviction, the extend of punishment will also decide how long the period will last.

“If the offences are not serious, their name will only exist (in the list) for a few years,” she said.

While Nuraisyah advocates an offence-tested method, child rights NGO Suriana Welfare Malaysia chairperson James Nayagam said the information should be removed after a fixed period of time.

“I believe that (convicts should no longer be listed after) five years if there is a clear record. It is only if he shows that he doesn’t continue the activity,” he said.

Preventing convicts from re-offending

James also points out the lack of a follow-up system for offenders who are on the current registry.

“In fact, in Malaysia there is no such programme. There is no tracking system. The guy who is a sex offender, can come out (of the prison) today with nobody tracking him down,” said James (photo).

Nuraisyah attributes this to a lack of legislation granting the police such powers.

“The current law has no provisions granting powers to the police to go to an ex-offender’s house to investigate, to follow up, and to see your progress, and whether you have the tendency to recommit the crime,” she said.

As a result, the current law is geared more towards record-keeping rather than to prevent the offenders from re-offending, said Nuraisyah.

According to her, there is also a need to ensure proper documentation.

“Maybe (we should) adopt an online method. Every country has a different way to do it. It should not be easily accessible but via request under strict control,” she said.

The amendments are also crucial to update the law to include cybercrimes against children.

“In the UK, for example, (regarding) cases of pornographic photos of children - that kind of offences if you are caught distributing the photos, it can go into the registry.

“But in our current law, that part is silent,” she added.

Either way, she said, a move to a sexual crime-specific registry is a step forward for the country.

Screening those who will work with children

Nuraisyah also believes that the registry must also be introduced along with other mechanisms in place, especially education.

“The concept of sexual abuse must be introduced in school in order to reach out more to the public.

“I don’t think it (public registry) can be actually be a standalone action. Everything needs to be in place first,” she said.

In the United Kingdom, the registration of sexual offenders is detailed in the Sexual Offenders Act 1997 and Sexual Offences Act 2003, while in the United States, it is laid out in the Sexual Offences Registration Act and Notification Acts 2006.

Madeleine Yong, founder of Protect and Save the Children, agrees that a publicly-accessible registry will benefit all.

Currently, she said, employers can only screen new hires for previous convictions, including for sexual crimes, through the police.

This is the same for those applying to work with children.

“We need to have a sex offenders registry. The current one, it is not accessible to the public. All of us who are employers, if we want to screen a person, we need to check with the police,” she said.

Part 1: For child victims, muddled line between love and sex abuse

Part 2: What happens when the sex offender is a child?

Part 3: Once a sex offender, always a sex offender?