In an article in the T&T Guardian dated May 4, 2011, there was talk of launching an online sex offenders registry under the Children’s Authority within the Ministry of the People. My best attempts at research have revealed that no such registry has ever been implemented. What is the hold up? A study done in the USA by JJ Prescott of the University of Michigan and Jonah Rockoff of Columbia University has shown that requiring sex offenders to register with police may reduce the chances that they will re-offend by as much as 13 per cent. There is clearly a benefit to be had in implementing the sex offenders registry.
Section 15 of the Sexual Offences Act Chapter 11:28 says a person who indecently assaults another is guilty of an offence and is liable on conviction to imprisonment for five years for a first offence. Thus we can draw the inference that several people who have been convicted of indecent assault and have served their five-year jail term are now freely roaming Trinbagonian society. What is to stop these individuals from committing more sexual offences in the future? With all the billions that have been spent on national security and crime prevention why has this fairly simple and inexpensive measure not been implemented? Party politics aside, this is something that should have been done decades ago, before the present crime situation developed.
Jonathan Bhagan,
via e-mail