With police figures for carnal abuse and rape growing by nightmarish proportions yearly, the Jamaican Government is getting ready to heed a 2001 call by member of parliament for St Catherine South Central Sharon Hay-Webster for a registry of sex offenders and for victims and their communities to be notified when such persons are released from prison, the Sunday Observer has learnt.

HAY-WEBSTER. in 2001 she called for a registry of sex offenders and for victims and their communities to be notified when such persons are released from prison

According to police data, 377 cases of carnal abuse were reported in 2003. In 2004, children were the victims of 70 per cent of all sexual crimes reported with 959 children being sexually abused, of which 517 were raped, 409 carnally abused and 33 made victims of incest. In 2005, carnal abuse figures stood at 346 only to rise to 434 in 2006. By 2007 the figure stood at 427 and as at May this year 64 rapes had been reported and 20 cases of carnal abuse.

On the heels of this worrying reality, Prime Minister Bruce Golding this June proposed amendments to the Fingerprint Act to allow for Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) samples to be taken from criminals and a DNA database set up to improve detection and conviction rates.

Concurrent with this proposal, the Sunday Observer has been told that Cabinet has approved the drafting of a new Sexual Offences Bill which will incorporate the provisions for treating with sexual crimes in the Offences Against the Person Act and the Incest (Punishment) Act, and establish the Registry and a monitoring programme. The thinking is that the Registry is necessary for effectively monitoring the whereabouts of sex offenders. It is understood that extensive public education will be a major component of the thrust.

For Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of crime Mark Shields, the establishment of a registry of sex offenders is needed urgently.

"It can't come soon enough if we are to protect children particularly from repeat sex offenders," Shields told the Sunday Observer. "At the moment, because there is no registry, it is far harder for the authorities to establish when such a person is employed at a school, a camp, a children's home or anywhere where there are children.

"It's far harder for us to keep track of those people to ensure that those who work in those jobs that have direct access to children are not convicted sex offenders. The Sex Offender's Registry will give us that tool," Shields said.

The crime chief is also giving a thumbs up to the proposal for the establishment of a National DNA Database.

"I understand that the Ministry of National Security is looking at that. It falls into line with everything else because if we have a sex offenders register, we also need a national DNA database," Shields pointed out.

While Jamaican law at present allows for the photographing and the taking of fingerprints of individuals charged with rape and other serious offences, it does not allow for the collecting of DNA samples.

"What we want to do is incorporate the three main identification items, which are photographing, fingerprints and DNA for all persons charged for criminal offences. In that way, we will be able to track and detect many people who have not come to justice for other reasons," Shields noted.

He said it was clear from global practices that the more data held on such persons the greater the chances of protecting children and women.

Significantly, all 50 states in the United States have sex offenders registries. The Canadian Government in 2004 created a National Sex Offenders Registry to provide rapid access by police to current vital information about convicted sex offenders. Australia and the United Kingdom have also established registries.

"I want this to happen as soon as possible," said Shields. "I know the Government has acknowledged it and I am looking forward to some more concrete proposals around its introduction."

According to the deputy commissioner, such a development would put a serious blight on the habits of serial sex offenders.

"There is plenty of evidence that sex offenders, particularly paedophiles, are repeat offenders," said Shields. "It may start with an indecent assault and further on move on to quite brutal rape, and so that's another reason we have to detect these people at an early stage because if we do not it will go on and eventually some will end up committing further violence and even murder."

As to whether Jamaicans are ready for this kind of 'honesty', given their 'culture' of intolerance towards rapists and especially those who rape children, Shields said it was in people's interests to know who their neighbours are.

"The fact is that it's never every sex offender whose details are published, it depends on the degree of offence," said Shields. "If there is a serial paedophile who has committed several offences against children, then I think it's in everybody's interest to know where those people are.

"Although I understand the culture, we have to protect our most vulnerable, which is our children, first and foremost. We have to take into account the human rights of the sex offender, but that has to be balanced against the damage they can do in terms of further victims.

"That's why I think it's right that the ministry should take time to consider the measures that we need for Jamaica and they should be adapted accordingly to suit Jamaica, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't do it because of Jamaican culture," Shields added.

On July 25, Senator Arthur Williams, the junior minister of national security, in his contribution to the 2008-2009 State of the Nation Debate, said there were "powerful reasons" for Jamaica to authorise the taking of DNA samples and establish a DNA database, pointing to several countries which have used the method with much success.

In the United States, as of September 2007, a total of 44 states have laws requiring convicted felons to submit DNA samples, nine require samples from those convicted of certain misdemeanours and 11 states have laws authorising DNA samples to be taken from anyone arrested for any offence.

The United Kingdom, which was one of the first countries to introduce legislation authorising the taking of DNA samples, has one of the most extensive lists of persons found on any DNA database in the world through their legislation which allows the police to keep the information indefinitely, even if the arrested person is never charged.

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