The following statement was
issued today by Tom Marshall, Minister of Justice and Attorney General. It
was also read in the House of Assembly:
Today the federal government
announced the creation of a national sex offender registration system which
will enable police agencies across the country to have access to specific
information about convicted sex offenders. The implementation of this
registry reflects a consensus reached with provinces and territories to
establish a nation-wide sex offender registration system. The backbone of
the registration system will be a sex offender database which will be
managed by the RCMP. This database will be available to all police agencies
through the Canadian Police Information Centre, which is accessible to
accredited law enforcement agencies across Canada.
Every police force in Canada will have access to this data for the sole purpose of investigating unsolved sex crimes. The database will serve over 60,000 law enforcement officials in every province and territory. The database is designed to be
searchable by local police by specific criteria, for example geographical
area, postal code area, or physical attributes of offender, and will produce
instant lists of convicted offenders matching the facts of specified
criteria.
Persons convicted of a sex
offence who are currently under sentence and those convicted in the future
will be obligated to register annually. They will also be required to report
certain changes, for example change of address, or leaving the province for
an extended period of time.
Convicted sex offenders will be
required to remain registered for 10 years, 20 years, or life � depending
on the maximum penalty for their crime. Registration is required either
within 15 days if not in custody or upon release if incarcerated. Offenders
failing to comply with an order or giving false information would be
committing an offense.
The new national registration
system will enhance public protection and improve investigations of sex
offences while providing a reasonable level of privacy to offenders. We
welcome this positive initiative which will assist all police agencies, and
introduce improved access to offender information across the country. This
new registration system will enhance public safety and security �
especially for children across Canada.
2004 12 15 2:30 p.m. |
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