Still only one name on child offenders’ register

Only one name features on the child offenders’ register, which came into force more than eight months ago, despite several convictions relating to the abuse of minors.

This could not effectively protect children from crime unless it was applied whenever possible

Former Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici, who spearheaded the law, called on the judiciary in June to make use of the “very good instrument” available to protect children.

However, since the first offender was listed that month, there have been no new listings.

“In the child offenders’ register there is, to date, one person whom the court ordered to be inserted in this register,” a Justice Ministry spokesperson said when asked for an update.

He confirmed that the name was the person whom The Times had reported as featuring on the list for possession of child pornography.

The man had been given a one-year jail term, suspended for two, and put under a two-year supervision order to get help after he admitted the charge.

He was one of 15 people convicted of crimes involving the abuse of children since January 20, when the Protection of Minors’ Act came into force. Others were convicted of more serious crimes, including rape, defilement and child prostitution, and were not listed either.

Fourteen teenagers, who are now adults, were on September 19 convicted of sexual assault in Marsascala during the summer of 2003.

The charges listed 16 episodes of rape, on eight separate occasions, involving five girls, one of them mentally disabled.

The idea of 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.

Once listed, a person would not be able to be a member of, work or hold any position within an establishment or organisation involved in the education, care, custody and welfare of minors.

The law is not retroactive, so a person listed on the register would have to be convicted after it came into force.

The law leaves the listing entirely up to the discretion of the court.

Victim Support Malta had said judges and magistrates should be provided with clear guidelines on how to list people on the child offenders’ register to ensure it was implemented consistently.

Children’s Commissioner Helen D’Amato has also said the new tool could not effectively protect children from crime unless it was applied whenever possible.