The founder of the Bahamas Crisis Centre, Sandra Dean-Patterson, says the center is not in favour of a sex offenders registry being made public even as it continues to advocate for its establishment.
Dean-Patterson said that she is concerned that The Bahamas, unlike bigger countries, does not have the systems in place to ensure the safely and orderly use of the registry.
The centre had been at the forefront of the campaign to have the registry established because of alarming rate of Bahamian children being abused, violated and exploited in the country and it was necessary for the authorities to deal with the situation.
‘Now, the sexual offenders register was passed and is in place, but it’s not a public register, and we are not in favour of it being a public register. I know the public would like to know who these sex offenders are.
‘But we are not the United States, the United Kingdom, and the size where you can identify these sex offenders and have them someplace where they’re not going to hurt children,’ Dean-Patterson said, adding ‘what we have advocated is that the persons who need to know, who are obligated, who are directed to protect children, are the ones who have access to this register and who are responsible for the sex offenders who are released.
‘That is the police, social services, the prison. Those are the key people who should have this information and could deal with the information in a way that protects children, but also doesn’t enable vigilantism, which has been the experience in other countries where the sex offender register was public.’
There have been increased calls for the sex registry to be made public after media reports last week said that a mother was seeking help after finding out that a convicted sex offender had been following her 10-year-old daughter home and leaving her sexually inappropriate messages and drawings on their backyard gate.
The ma is also reported to have signed his name on the messages and the mother said she identified the predator after finding a news article that depicted his previous crimes against a minor.
Dean-Patterson said that while the center’s view may not be popular, there is a stark difference between other countries and The Bahamas, noting that The Bahamas’ system calls for the public to have confidence in the system, which can sometimes be difficult.
‘So, really it calls for the public to have confidence in the system and I don’t know that the public is as confident or comfortable with the system protecting our children as it should be,’ Dean-Patterson said, adding ‘I want parents to know, parents of children to know that we are 100 percent in favor of the protection of children.’