Call for sexual predators list

Published Aug 18, 2007

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By Noor-Jehan Yoro Badat and Kashiefa Ajam

The brutal murder of six-year-old Steven Siebert at the hands of convicted paedophile and child-killer Theunis Christian Olivier has elicited an outcry for a national register of paedophiles - but not everyone agrees that a register would work in South Africa, where there is, at best, a seven percent conviction rate.

Joan van Niekerk, national co-ordinator of Childline, believes that "no register will protect children". It could, in fact, contribute to the problem of child protection.

However, Dr Thinus Coetzee, a counsellor and operation head for an anti-child crimes group called the Pink Ladies, argues that a national register for paedophiles would work.

Referring to the Olivier case, he said: "If there was a register in place we might have known that the person was a potential predator. How many cases are still pending against this particular predator? Yet nobody paid attention and the ultimate result was the end of a beautiful little life."

Lillian Artz, director of the University of Cape Town's Gender, Health and Justice Unit, isn't convinced that establishing a national register is the way to go for South Africa. "It's a great way to identify and monitor paedophiles but I don't think the government has the capacity to pull it off," she said.

Apart from the reluctance of children and parents to report incidents, said Van Niekerk, another compelling reason why a register wouldn't work was the ease with which people were able to obtain new identities.

Olivier, who was found guilty of kidnapping, sexually assaulting and murdering Steven - who he had enticed away from his parents' holiday home in Plettenberg Bay in late December 2005 - told the police he had sexually molested more than 200 boys over a period 30 years.

Coetzee argues: "The expressed goal of having sex offender registers is to reduce recidivism and promote public safety. Such registers would increase community awareness, making sex offenders feel more susceptible to the risks associated with offending.

"For such a register to be effective it needs to be made public. In this way, a person with small children, in any given area, could be aware of a predator staying in the area.

Sure, it might give rise to vigilantism but we feel that this would never be the case if the predator didn't commit the crime in the first place.

"In our view, the memories of a jail sentence do not outweigh the lifelong scarred memories a victim has to suffer."

Van Niekerk stresses the importance and the role of the proposed Children's Act. This provides for "a list of persons unsuitable to work with children" under the national child protection register, but will not come into force until the Children's Amendment Bill is passed by parliament.

But more important than having this legislation, she said, was having an effective system of management. "We need the Child Protection Unit back, the police need to be properly trained, and people who work in these units need to have a passion for working with children."

The development of legislation for children, particularly in relation to justice issues, should be done in consultation with experts in the field of childcare. "The protection of children is different to that of adults," she noted.

Van Niekerk described the national child protection register as much better than the eagerly awaited Sexual Offences Bill, which provides for a national confidential register of known sexual offenders. The bill is currently before the National Council of Provinces.

"The Sexual Offences Bill refers only to sex offenders. The Children's Act will capture anybody who commits crimes against children and is far more comprehensive."

According to Lakela Kaunda, spokesperson for the department of social development, the Children's Act refers to all offences against children such as assault, molestation, indecent assault and any statutory sexual offence.

She highlights that part B of the Child Protection Register focuses on a list of persons unsuitable to work with children - defining these people as "persons that abuse a child, whether it is sexually, emotionally, physically or by deliberate neglect".

This register would be kept and managed by the same department, said Kaunda, adding: "The list is a general one, not focusing on paedophiles per se but on crimes against children in general."

And according to the act, "Any court and accredited forum can find that a person is unsuitable to work with children, and will forward that ruling to the national department of social development", said Kaunda.

Those who automatically qualify to be included on the list are "any persons convicted of murder, attempted murder, rape, indecent assault or assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm".

However, said Kaunda, "The list will not be made available to the general public".

"The obligation lies with employers who work with children to screen employees against part B of the register."

A reliable source from the same department told the Saturday Star that those who will have access to this list will be all municipalities and health and education institutions.

"However, if you suspect that a paedophile is living next door to you, you will not be granted access to the list."

The source says there is now a sense of urgency in passing the bill, which would see the second section of the amended Children's Act approved.

"We are still waiting for the South African Police Service and the justice department to compile lists for us. All the provincial issues will be sorted out by the end of September. We are hoping to have a list by June next year."

One of the issues that had delayed the list's implementation was the constitutional question of whether offenders would have their rights violated.

But the source said: "We have consulted with many legal experts on this matter. If any of these people want to take us to court for violating their constitutional rights, they must just go ahead."

Justice and constitutional development ministry spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said the two registers (offender and protection) did not constitute a duplication as they were intended for different reasons.

"Yes, there are similarities, as both are intended to protect children and preclude a convicted person from working with children. However, there are major differences between the two registers.

"For example, the offender register provided for in the Sexual Offences Bill also protects mentally disabled people against sex offenders who have been convicted before or after the commencement of the act, while the information on the protection register is used to protect children in general against people convicted of abuse and neglect."

Van Niekerk believes that having two registers would take resources away from effective intervention such as providing for supervision and treatment of sexual offenders as well as providing treatment to the children.

"We are constantly told that we don't have the money. We need to look at what will work and can't work, and we must educate the public. Those people who work with children will have to be checked against two registers. In reality it will not help the children."

Last week it was reported that a lack of adequate government resources could result in a complete failure of the national sex offenders register despite the Sexual Offences Bill being close to promulgation.

Although the names of Olivier and a host of other paedophiles will appear on such a register once the bill is approved, experts warned that the state needed a "good circle of professionals" to monitor the list.

UCT's Artz added: "The child sex offenders' register can only be a value-adding mechanism if it is sustained and resourced correctly.

"It is a very complex matter and not just something you can start and add names to every time someone is convicted.

"If we look at the US, their paedophile register is working because they have a group of social workers, police, probation officers and law professionals employed to monitor it.

"I don't think it's going to be easy for our government to monitor all these things. It's not just about slapping a list together; it's about monitoring every individual person on that list."

Artz said the body commissioned to establish the register should also ensure that convicted paedophiles were kept away from children after serving jail sentences.

"Things often fall through the cracks," she noted.

Ten years ago the South African Law Commission initiated a project on sexual offences that would ultimately result in the Sexual Offences Bill.

In 2003 the bill went to parliament, where it sat for four years until finally being passed by the National Assembly this year.

It is currently before the National Council of Provinces, the final step before the bill becomes law. - Additional reporting by Clayton Barnes

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