Child Registry underway

DETAILS of those convicted of child sex offences or crimes involving children will now be made available under the newly-created Child Registry.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim said the creation of the registry follows amendments made to the Child Act (Amendment) 2015, which also included details of neglected or abused children in the registry.

“The improvements will include details of victims and their perpetrators in the Child Registry,” she said told Nurul Izzah Anwar (PKR - Lembah Pantai).

She said the registry would be used during employment vetting.

“Information in the registry can only be released after consent by the Welfare Department’s director-general,” she added.

Rohani said the registry would serve as a reference for employers seeking to hire staff for businesses which involved children.

The jobs included van and schoolbus drivers, canteen operators, janitors, school security guards and helpers at daycare centres.

“The registry will be jointly managed with the police and updated from time to time,” she added.

Rohani said the idea to include detailed information in the Child Registry came about after ministry officials attended a United Nations gathering on “Gender Equality and Women Empowerment” in September last year.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar was reported to have said last year that the law needed to be amended to introduce a sex offenders registry.

He added that while the police had a database of convicted felons, there was no specific database for paedophiles or other sexual offenders as yet.

Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation vice-chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye had said that it is essential that the sex offenders and predators be placed in a register, closely monitored, tracked and prevented from repeating their offen­ces.