PRIME Minister Andrew Holness said the gruesome murder of nine-year-old Kelsey Ferrigon highlights certain weaknesses within the criminal justice system that must be addressed, and hinted at the need for possible changes to the Sex Offender Registry.

While addressing residents of the Job Lane community in Spanish Town, St Catherine, shortly after speaking with Georgia Anderson, the mother of Ferrigon, Holness condemned the act and thanked residents for assisting the police with their investigation.

“This incident must be considered a turning point. The person who is alleged to have committed the crime — we don’t know, we are speaking purely now on allegation — is someone who is a repeat offender, someone who is out on bail. And as the mother of the child who perished pointed out that she had no idea that this man, who was essentially her neighbour, was a repeat offender and was actually out on bail, that speaks to certain weaknesses, certain issues that we have to take a second look at in our criminal justice system,” said Holness.

According to the police, Kelsey’s partially naked body was discovered about 8:00 pm Friday, upside down in a barrel at her home. The body appeared to have been beaten, and it is suspected that she was sexually assaulted.

Detectives assigned to the Criminal Investigations Branch have named Giovanni Ellis, otherwise called Coolie Man, as a person of interest in the case, and launched a manhunt for him. Deputy Prime Minister Dr Horace Chang, who is also the national security minister, has announced a $2-million award for information leading to his arrest.

Holness noted that the Government recently reformed the Bail Act, and there is a Sex Offender Registry that holds the information and keeps track of sexual offenders. He stated, however, “this incident requires that we take a second look on how we make this Sex Offender Registry available to the public so that the public can be armed with information to protect themselves”.

“Yes, there are constitutional issues that we have to balance but where we are in the society. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that our laws need to favour the protection of life and the protection of the victim, rather than trying to protect the criminals. It is time that the society draws a clear line that we must eliminate the criminals from our society,” said the prime minister.

Holness said he was informed that the residents of the community are cooperating with the police, and have not sought to take matters into their own hands. He commended them for the role they have played in the investigation thus far.

“This is the new Jamaica that you see emerging. Even out of conflict and these kinds of gruesome situations the citizens have confidence that the police will be able to bring the perpetrator to justice, and therefore the people will play their role in cooperating in providing information, in highlighting the problem… and in ensuring that this does not happen again,” he said.

“This is how we build a strong and just society where law enforcement can have a specific role, they can do their jobs; and the public — who will always have the moral duty to provide information against crime — will support the police. Once that strong relationship starts to emerge between the citizens and the police we will have a safer Jamaica and a safer community,” Holness reasoned.

Addressing the residents of the area, he advised: “It could have been your child — innocent and has nothing to do with anything — so in as much as the society is emerging now, with confidence in the police, the society must also resolve itself and be unambiguous in being against criminals. And our laws must reflect that as well — certainly in reforms that may be needed to how we use and operate the Sex Offenders Registry,” said the prime minister.

State minister in the Ministry of National Security, Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn said that while there are provisions in the law that require sex offender to report to the police station, she was informed by the police that “whenever Ellis was supposed to report, I believe it was on a Saturday, he did not report, and subsequent to when he had allegedly committed this crime he did not report as well”.

“I think the legislation should be looked at seriously. I know that I have been a strident voice out there as far as the Sex Offender Registry is concerned. I think the Jamaican people would want to see some sort of legislative change. The prime minister alluded to that as well, and it is actually in the Ministry of National Security at the Department of Correctional Services (DCS), and I know it’s something that we are looking at, at this time,” said Cuthbert Flynn.

“We have a new correctional policy and we are looking at all the legislation to see how well we can amend those legislation. At this time they [sex offenders] only need to report to the police station. If someone has committed a crime like rape, you will not know if it is your neighbour if the person moves next door to you — and I think that is something that should be looked at,” she added.

CUTHBERT-FLYNN…we have a new correctional policy and we are looking at all the legislation to see how well we can amend those legislation (Llewellyn Wynter)

Prime Minister Andrew Holness embraces Georgia Anderson, the mother of nine-year-old Kelsey Anderson who was brutally murdered on Friday.