The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Department of Correctional Services is in the process of committing names to the sexual offender register, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe confirmed yesterday.

While he could not say how many offenders were currently on the list, the minister said there were now 70 inmates at BDCS for various sexual offences.

He said officials were still mulling over whether offenders already released from prison would be committed to the register, adding they were also still looking at who would be notified when a sex offender is released.

“The register is up now,” Mr Munroe said in a recent interview with The Tribune. “People are being registered in prison right now.

“Currently we have 70 prisoners sentenced for various sexual offences.”

Asked how notification of the release of offenders would be handled, he said: “The first thing that happens is the Minister of National Security has to make a decision about who to notify when a sexual offender is released. The jurisprudence of thinking is the more dangerous the person is, the wider the publication.

“I’ve received representations that we should notify any schools near to where the person is going to live, things like that. So, we’ll take all of those on board when we make our decisions about it.”

Last month, Mr Munroe said a public education campaign would come before the full implementation of the registry.

Regarding this, Mr Munroe said his ministry was in the process of arranging meetings to coordinate that campaign.

“The Ministry of National Security is looking to arrange a meeting between the registrar of the sexual offenders registry, ourselves and the Office of the Spouse because that’s going to be the coordination for the public education and, of course, we are going to be asking people to make any representations that they might wish to do so, especially the NGOs as we go forward.

“I am still looking at whether we can insist on going on the register, the people who have already been released without being formally put on it and made to report.

“We should have a resolution on that in a week or two.”

Asked how long the campaign would continue, Mr Munroe said: “I would anticipate it’s going to be very intensive when we first start, but it’ll have to continue throughout the programme to remind people about things.”

The minister has said previously that the education campaign will include explaining under what grounds a judge can remove an offender from the list.