By Latrishka Thomas
Concerns have been levied over the fact that the Police Commissioner will have sole responsibility for confirmation of sex offenders as outlined in the Sex Offenders Register Bill (2022).
On Monday, the Upper House voted unanimously to pass the Bill which aims to reduce incidences of sexual reoffending through the monitoring of convicted sex offenders, the sharing of sex offender information with participating jurisdictions within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.
The Bill states that “a person may apply to the Commissioner of Police for confirmation of whether a named individual is a registered sex offender.”
Senator Maureen Payne-Hyman while debating the Bill in the Senate, questioned whether the police would provide prompt assistance to persons who request confirmation of a sex offender.
She said: “I don’t know if they’ll be able to manage it. Things have to be done in a strict time limit. Sometimes you ring police headquarters, you don’t even get a reply.”
“I don’t want to see that you make an application, a week later [you are told] oh, Miss, it’s coming, the man is not here, oh, I didn’t get the message, someone’s on vacation,” she added.
Minister of Legal Affairs Steadroy Benjamin addressed that concern with Observer, saying that “the law evolves.”
He explained that, “this is the first draft of a bill of its kind in the Eastern Caribbean. We in Antigua and Barbuda are known for setting the leg.”
Benjamin then added that “if it’s demonstrated that there is a need for a committee, later consideration will be given and amendments made accordingly.”
While any member of the public can apply to obtain confirmation of a registered sex offender, that person could be fined $10,000 or imprisoned for 3 years if he/she “by false pretences, obtains from the Commissioner of Police information on any registered sex offender; misuses information to which he or she was granted access regarding a registered sex offender [or] with intent, maliciously disseminates information obtained from the sexual offender’s register.”