NT sex offenders free to roam streets, national register needed
These are some of the faces of evil who are living in our neighbourhoods, as the NT government keeps parents in the dark about paedophiles. SEE THE LIST AND THEIR CRIMESÂ
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Sex monsters are free to prowl neighbourhoods as the NT Government keeps parents in the dark about paedophiles living in their suburbs.
Neighbours must be told by law if there’s a dangerous dog in a nearby yard – yet human predators posing a grave danger to children are using privacy protections to hide in plain sight.
As sex crimes against innocent children soar under the cover of COVID-19 lockdowns, the NT News is calling on all state and territory governments to sign up to a national register of Australia’s 20,000 convicted sex offenders.
Child exploitation reports to the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation have soared 50 per cent to 21,000 in the past year.
Bruce Morcombe, the grieving father whose 13-year-old son Daniel was abducted and murdered by a paedophile while waiting for a bus on the Sunshine Coast in 2003, is demanding a “Daniel’s Law” to alert the public to sex offenders living nearby.
“It would have made a difference in terms of educating Daniel and our other boys that predators did live in our neighbourhood,’’ Mr Morcombe said yesterday.
“It also would make a difference in terms of a deterrent – if the worst of the worst know they’re on a publicly accessible register, they’re a lot less likely to commit a premeditated offence.
“Convicted paedophiles are operating under a shroud of secrecy.
“At the moment we are too focused on protecting past offenders, and not enough work is being done to protect kids.
“Kids come first.’’
The Australian Federal Police, who arrested 161 Australians on child sex offence charges last financial year, refused to comment on the need for a national register.
“There is a lot of child abuse going on in the community today, and a lot of it is facilitated through technology,’’ AFP forensics co-ordinator Nathan Green said yesterday.
“Statistically, everybody would know somebody.
“There’s no group that is immune for either offenders or victims.
“There’s no socio-economic group, there’s no defining characteristic, it’s every walk of life.’’
But a defiant NT Attorney-General Selena Uibo warned of “community unrest’’ if people are told when sex offenders are living nearby.
“Given the NT’s small population, identification of an offender may increase the risk of victims being identified, particularly in remote communities,’’ she said yesterday.
“This risks communities ostracising victims and family members, encourages vigilantism and could prompt community unrest.”
Ms Uibo said the link between child safety and a public register “has not yet been demonstrated’’.
The Australian Federal Police, who arrested 161 Australians on child sex offence charges last financial year, refused to comment on the register yesterday but said police were “relentless in the pursuit of saving victims and bringing child sex offenders to justice’’.
Bravehearts, a charity to help sexually abused children, yesterday called for national adoption of the WA register “to protect children’’.
“The shining light in their model is the opportunity for people with children who have a new person in their life to contact police and find out if that person is known to them and may pose a danger to their children,’’ Bravehearts founder Hetty Johnston said yesterday.
“That is an incredibly powerful and effective tool if properly promoted in the community and if taken up by single parents and others.’’
Mr Morcombe said he opposed vigilante attacks on offenders, but felt parents had a right to access photos of paedophiles living nearby.
He said sex offenders should not be exposed if this would reveal the identity of their victims.
Federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton handed the states and territories $7.8 million in last year’s federal budget to set up a National Public Register of Sex Offenders to let Australians view names, aliases and photos of paedophiles, along with their general location and the nature of their crimes.
More than a year later, Western Australia is the only state that gives the public access to its police register of sex offenders.
Anyone can apply to see photos of convicted sex offenders living in their suburb, or adjoining suburbs – although names and addresses are kept secret to prevent vigilante attacks.
Single parents can ask police to check on a new partner, while parents can seek background checks on babysitters.
Mr Dutton yesterday said the federal government was “at war with sex offenders’’.
“It’s time that other state and territory leaders show where they stand,’’ he said.
“A national system such as this would have a very strong deterrent effect on offenders and ensure that parents are not in the dark about whether a registered sex offender is living in their community.’’
Mr Morcombe said he was “greatly disappointed’’ that states were denying parents and children the right to know if predators were living nearby.
“Parents and carers need the ability to check the number of offenders against kids in a geographical area – perhaps the kids’ school or their grandma’s house,’’ he said.
“Maybe their daughter is a single mum who’s going out with someone new, or their elderly parents are looking at putting on a boarder.
“It is a simple test to see if that person has a history of offending against children.
“We’ve got to protect our kids.’’
Mr Morcombe said the public was alerted to dangerous dogs through signs on gates, and to crocodiles in creeks.
“That does not mean you’re going to slit the throat of every crocodile you see sunbaking on a sandbank,’’ he said.
“It’s a warning sign to be aware.’’
Law Society of Australia president Pauline Wright said any register must be accurate.
“(It must not) lead to the potential for vigilante attacks, mistaken identity, or the risk of offenders going into hiding, which would make it harder to supervise them when released,’’ she said.
Ms Wright warned that exposing predators might inadvertently reveal the identities of victims.
“Publication may impact a victim’s right to privacy and compound the already significant trauma, embarrassment, and distress suffered,’’ she said.
HOW WESTERN AUSTRALIA’S PUBLIC REGISTER WORKS
AUSTRALIA’s only public register of paedophiles has been checked by 677,000 people since it was set up in Western Australia in 2014.
The WA Community Protection website alerts people to the state’s most dangerous and high risk sexual offenders.
Parents and guardians can ask WA Police to check the criminal history of any person who has regular unsupervised contact with their child.
Single parents can check if someone they’re dating has a criminal record for sex offences.
Divorced parents can even ask police to tell them if their ex-partner’s new boyfriend or girlfriend has a history of child abuse.
Parents and guardians just need to fill in an online form asking police to check the name of anyone who has regular contact with their children.
Police send back a “yes” or “no” response, but cannot provide details of the conviction.
Only adult offenders are listed on the Community Protection website.
It shows photos and personal details of all offenders who have gone missing, failed to comply with their reporting obligations, or given false information to police.
Members of the public can type in their driver’s licence details to check for photos of offenders living in their suburb, and all adjoining suburbs, although names and addresses are not released.
The disclosure scheme also lets a parent or guardian of a child inquire about a specific person who has regular contact with their child.
All applications are processed online, and anyone who uses the information to distribute the photos or “engage in any conduct that will create, promote or increase animosity toward or harassment’’ of the offender risks 10 years in jail.
Applicants cannot search for offender photographs in other localities.
The executive manager of the Sex Offender Registry, Martyn Clancy-Lowe, yesterday said 677,000 people had accessed the register since it was established.
He said there had only been a handful of reports of harassment or stalking of offenders, and action had been taken against anyone who posted photos on social media or distributed posters.
WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts said the register was “the most valuable tool used by police forces around Australia to monitor child sex offenders’’.
“I want to reiterate to the public, and parents in particular, that most child sex offenders are known to victims,’’ she said.
“So parents must always be vigilant in protecting their children.’’
Originally published as NT sex offenders free to roam streets, national register needed