No names on child offenders’ register
No names on register four months later
More than four months after the child offenders’ register officially came into force no names appear on the list that is meant to protect children from abuse and neglect.
“There are no names on the child offenders’ register… Names are placed on the… register at the court’s discretion after an accused is found guilty of specific crimes as provided by law,” a spokesman for the Justice Ministry said.
The register was meant to start being compiled on January 20 when the Protection of Minors’ Act came into force. It will list the names of people convicted of offences involving children.
The law is not retroactive, so a person listed on the register would have to be convicted after it came into force. There have been convictions since but nobody is listed. The idea for the register, which has been implemented with success in several countries, is to make the names of people convicted of abuse and sex crimes available to agencies dealing with children even when the courts would have ordered a ban on publication of the name to protect the victims.
The convictions that could lead to a person’s inclusion on the list include defilement, rape, having sex with minors, child abduction, prostitution, pornography, trafficking in minors, harassment and neglect.
People acquitted on grounds of insanity could still be listed. Moreover, the court has the discretion to order that a person convicted of other crimes is listed if it feels there is a threat to children.
Once listed, a person would not be able to be a member, work or hold any position within an establishment or organisation involved in the education, care, custody and welfare of minors.
Agencies dealing with children would have to get the courts’ permission to view the register when screening a prospective employee.
The idea to have the paedophile register surfaced in mid-2006 in the wake of a controversy involving the Malta Football Association, which had kept a 79-year-old convicted paedophile as a groundsman at the Pace Grasso ground in Paola that also doubles as a playing field for a nearby school.
Originally, the offenders’ register was planned to list people convicted of sex offences against children.
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John Dee
Jun 4th 2012, 14:28
"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children. " Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German Lutheran pastor.
Mr Ernest Vella
Jun 4th 2012, 20:36
ha ndahhlu l-IVF ha niddeciedu min ghandu jghix u min jigi frizat!!!
Joseph Borg
Jun 5th 2012, 08:20
int bis serjeta jew taparsi Ernest! Ahjar tinforma naqra ruhek fuq l IVF qabel ma ddecidejt li tkun the judge and the jury.....allahares min ma jistax ikollu tfal u ilu zmien jipprova jahsibha bhalek fuq l IVF! u btw l IVF DUGA tezisti Malta jekk forsi ma tafx! Tippruvax bhas soltu thallat il knisja mal istat!
Anton Mifsud
Jun 4th 2012, 14:23
Drug abuse is a serious matter and a danger to our society. The local Department of Health notifies us of these drug abusers in a confidential manner and we take the measures not to be instrumental in furthering their drug abuse.
Child abuse is even more serious and dangerous to our society. There just be a way that these child molesters are made known to those public officers who might otherwise place these child abusers in positions that they will certainly exploit to the maximum. If the 'register' is not working an alternative is urgently required.
Louise Vella
Jun 4th 2012, 12:17
Besides the fact that there are still no names on the register since this became law last January, mandatory reporting also became law but still has to be enforced. The law states that: “Any person being a director, manager, secretary or other similar officer of a relevant entity who becomes aware of the commission of a scheduled offence and fails to report the fact to the Commissioner of police shall be guilty of an offence and shall on conviction be liable to the same punishment laid down in sub-article (1).
It is well known that the Archdiocese has its own Response Team which probes child abuse cases by priests. Some of these priests have also been defrocked by the Vatican after credible accusations. Bishops hide the evidence in the secret archives of the curia. As things stand defrocked priests are dumped quietly by the bishops into the community, and when they do this, they don't tell people who these individuals are.
Has the head of the Response Team, retired judge Caruana Colombo, contacted the police after hearing lurid and credible allegations of child molesting by priests? Has Archbishop Cremona handed over these files to the Commissioner of Police for further investigation? If not the archbishop should be charged with:
1. Reckless endangerment of children
2. Withholding information
3. Knowingly aiding and abetting vicious paedophiles.
Transparency and justice demand a full inquiry into all those involved in the cover-up. The safety of children should be everybody’s number one priority. What’s the point of having laws if they are not enforced?
Paul Azzopardi
Jun 4th 2012, 16:55
Very well said, Ms Vella
Paul Azzopardi
Jun 4th 2012, 12:10
We are informed about this register yet the Justice Department takes no action ....... AGAIN please will the CURRENT Government take note.....WE ARE NOT IMPRESSED AT ALL....I for one will keep it in mind when I come to vote in the upcoming elections.
laura anderson
Jun 4th 2012, 12:08
'There have been convictions since but nobody is listed.' So the register has been in force since January and even though there have been convictions no one has bothered to put the names on the list?! This is outrageuous! I brought up the issue of who vets the school bus drivers as many people have worries about their childs safety when alone with the drivers but it looks like even if a driver is convicted of an offence against children he could still drive a school bus! disgusting!
Paul Ellul
Jun 4th 2012, 11:53
The Maltese tax payers are fined, penalised and even sent to prison if they are late in fulfilling obligations that the law requires us to do. Such delays results in additional costs that have to be paid out by the tax payer, so why does not a delay by the authorities garner the same treatment?
Why are two weights and two measures the order of the day in our tiny beautiful Island Nation?
Furthermore, these offenders could be applying for posts in which our minors could be exposed to. And for every day the list is not being updated, every single day will the risk remain.
What is the point of the party in power coming round for a chat in my kitchen, and asking for my opinion, when matters continue on as if they are no big deal for the administration?
How can this delay in updating this list ever be justified? I always mention the staggering € 2,430,000 million in Government revenues which tax payers fork out every year.
And I always ask, how can it be that we pay such an astronomical figure to run a country of just 400,000 persons? And to add insult to injury, in the case that it is costing so much, why isn't everything running smooth and like clockwork?
With all due respect, we really do not get our value for money!
joseph saliba
Jun 4th 2012, 12:31
What you haven't said:
How many related convictions since the law. Might be a good sign.
What you did not understand:
No party is involved in the registration of offenders. Only judges.
What you do not want to admit:
The Island is populated by imperfect mortals. Including you and me.
The law mentioned here has a unanimous vote to its credit.
M Cassar
Jun 4th 2012, 11:20
Can the judges who convicted persons of such crimes be asked why they failed to enter the names of those found guilty on this register please?
Who will be responsible for the damage done if one of these people found guilty finds himself with access to children because the agency employing him/her found the register empty? Well some ARE more equal than others......
Please choose the reason of your report below: