20240826 – SABC NEWS – Luke re Sex Offenders Register – notes
26 Aug: SABC NEWS – Calls mount for Sex Offenders Register to be made public: Luke Lamprecht
Calls continue to mount for the Sex Offenders Register to be made public. It is argued that this will deter offenders while improving vigilance. Build One SA has launched an online petition to make the register public, a call backed by child protection advocates.
Luke Lamprecht from Women and Men Against Child Abuse spoke to SABC:
There are a few issues to consider. First, there are two registers: the Sex Offenders Register and the Child Protection Register. The Sex Offenders Register lists individuals convicted of sexual crimes against children, persons with disabilities, or vulnerable individuals. This register can only be accessed by employers who need to check prospective employees against it.
The second register, the Child Protection Register, is managed by the Department of Social Development and covers people deemed unsuitable to work with children. This register is broader than the Sex Offenders Register, as it includes individuals found guilty in ethics hearings or labor hearings, even if they don’t have a criminal conviction. Unfortunately, this register is severely delayed and difficult to access, mainly due to administrative barriers.
Some argue against making these registers public, claiming it could result in lifelong punishment for potentially rehabilitated individuals or vigilantism against sex offenders. However, in our experience at Women and Men Against Child Abuse, despite people being named in the media after pleading guilty or being convicted, we have not seen any incidents of vigilantism.
The lack of access to these registers is frustrating. For example, as a parent employing someone to coach or teach my child, I technically have an employment relationship, yet I cannot access the register. The right to privacy for perpetrators seems to be prioritized over the protection of children. While privacy is important, parents need to be able to trust the people working with their children.
Being on these registers doesn’t preclude someone from working, just from working with children. Other industries have similar restrictions; for instance, someone convicted of fraud cannot work in the financial sector, and health professionals behaving unethically can be removed from the Health Professions Council. There are precedents for barring individuals from certain types of work based on their actions, so it’s unclear why this situation is an exception.
Without access to this critical information, offenders can move around undetected, contributing to the rising statistics of abuse cases. The importance of the Child Protection Register and labour legislation cannot be overstated. Many offenders, often men, move between positions where they teach, coach, or run activities with children. When they are confronted about their behaviour, they often resign, allowing them to move on to another job without consequences. This behaviour, known in the U.S. as “passing the trash,” allows career offenders to continue abusing children. On average, such offenders may abuse between 200 and 400 children over their lifetimes, sometimes facing hundreds of charges for their actions.
“It’s incredibly frustrating. We’re dealing with an adult male survivor of abuse at a Cape Town school, and going through the criminal justice process is extremely complex and traumatic. After enduring that process, when someone gets a conviction, it’s because you want to protect children. But no one has access to the register, which is enormously demoralizing. Hopefully, something gets done to strike a balance between access to information and ensuring transparency and accountability.”
