The child sex offenders registry – Putrajaya's latest effort to curb sexual crimes against minors – was launched by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry today.
According to deputy minister Hannah Yeoh, the child sex offenders registry will enable background checks on caretakers by parents, as well as on potential job candidates by employers.
Yeoh encouraged those working in fields related to children management especially to make use of the registry, which can be utilised free of charge at any state or district Welfare Department office from April 1.
Background check results, she pointed out, will be immediate – save for those applying through district Welfare Department offices, which may entail a five- or six-day wait.
"For now, we have 3,000 names of sexual offenders in the registry, which we obtained from 2017 to Feb 28, 2019," she said, adding that the ministry would add names to the list from time to time.
The number was obtained from 2017 after the enactment of the Sexual Offences Against Children Act that year.
Women, Family and Community Development Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was also present at the launch of the registry in Putrajaya today.
Yeoh elaborated that applicants will only be informed if the individuals they look up are on the registry, but that details of their offences would not be disclosed.
The results of these checks are also confidential, she stressed, noting that sharing these with the public will run afoul of Section 121 of the Children Act 2001.
The provision carries a maximum jail term of two years and a fine of RM10,000 upon conviction.
First phase
According to Yeoh, the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry will upgrade the registry with the help of other agencies to make it more comprehensive.
"This is the first phase of the registry," she said.
"We are looking to develop a more comprehensive system with the engagement of other ministries and agencies, including Bukit Aman's Sexual, Women and Children’s Investigations Division (D11), as well as their counterparts in the United Kingdom."
Commenting on the offenders listed in the registry, Yeoh said that most of the 3,000 are first-time offenders.
"In 2017, 314 people were charged for committing child sex offences, where 300 of them were first-time offenders.
"In 2018, the number doubled to 639 offenders, with 605 of them being first-time offenders."
The deputy minister said that increased mobile phone usage among children could be why the figure more than doubled in the space of a year. - Mkini
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