Absence of Sex Offender Registry creating Safe Haven for Pedophiles?
By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS- WITH the absence of a local sex offenders registry where convicted sex offenders are required to inform authorities of their presence on the island, stakeholders are nervous about the safety of children on the island.
While airing their views on the subject, some citizens said the lack of the registry leaves the proverbial door wide open for these sexual predators, whether local or foreign, to have access to minors.
In 2007 prosecuted cases of sexual offences against minors more than doubled to 27 as compared to the 2006 figure of 11. Despite these statistics there is currently no official registry to track and monitor those who commit criminal sexual offences within the Federation.
Ingrid Charles-Gumbs, Director for the Department of Gender Affairs, said that she has proposed the idea of a national sex offender registry before, but has found little legislative support.
“Years ago there was a coach who was convicted of abusing children in this way and he lost his job, but within a few months I heard that he was trying to offer his coaching services to children for free.
“I had to fight tooth and nail to get people to understand that he was a dangerous man. ‘But he’s a good coach,’ they would say. I had to explain to them that it didn’t matter, that he couldn’t be trusted around children no matter what and that he had a serious problem,” said Gumbs.
National sex offender registries are used to track individuals who have been previously convicted of sexual crimes, especially against children, and might be likely to strike again. These types of databases often contain the name, list of convictions, aliases and last known address of those who commit crimes of a sexual nature. These registries currently exist in most large countries and apply to rapists as well as pedophiles. ~~Adz:Right~~
Since the inception of such registries in the USA, all fifty states have made it mandatory for some type of sex offender registry to be in place.
One instance of foreign sex offenders infiltrating and repeating their perverted behavior occurred in St. Croix, USVI recently where Gary Lee Brown, a man who served 17 years in prison for previous sexual offences in the United States entered the island in 2003 without being required to register as a sex offender.
Brown was allowed to volunteer for a youth organization and eventually become a guardian for one of the boys after gaining family’s trust. The Virgin Islands Daily News reported on April 12th that because Brown was not required to register as a sex offender when he entered St. Croix, he will now be facing several life sentences after being convicted of repeatedly sexually molesting two boys between 2004 and 2007, including the one given over to his care.
Gumbs emphasized that a sex offenders registry would help protect people by providing them with the knowledge they need to protect themselves. “It is almost like these types of people have a disease, like they cannot help themselves. For a man to serve 17 years in prison and then commit the same offences again is unexplainable other than to say that he was a danger to himself and others,” she said.
Gumbs stated that though she is pleased with legislation currently being worked on to raise the age of consent from 16 to 18, she does hope that a sex registry is in the Federation’s future. “Unless a registry is put place, it is too easy for these types of criminals to move about St. Kitts and Nevis repeating their crimes and ruining our innocent children.”
