Sunday, 12th October 2008

Call for sex offenders' register

Claudia Calleja

The government should place more emphasis on preventing the sexual
abuse of children by introducing a sex offenders' register, an
association said yesterday.

It should also keep its promise to set up a series of community
centres where a variety of social services would be made available to
people in need.

"Punishment and rehabilitation are important in fighting sexual abuse
but the most important thing is to improve prevention and safety,"
Maltese Association of Social Workers (MASW) chairman Anthea Agius
said.

Ms Agius called on the authorities to "seriously consider" introducing
sex offenders' registration. She said it should first be discussed
with agencies and services that worked in childcare in order to make
the necessary recommendations to the current child protection system.

The idea to have a paedophile register had surfaced in mid-2006
following a controversy involving the Malta Football Association,
which retained 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.

Ms Agius raised the subject in the wake of a court judgment last week
in which a 61-year-old man was jailed for nine years for raping the 10-
year-old daughter of his partner. The abuse started when the girl was
six and lasted for four years.

During the court case, the girl said that her mother had ignored her
cry for help. After the girl called the Appoġġ helpline and spoke to
her headmistress about the abuse, she was removed from her mother's
house and taken to a home.

This case highlighted the need for better prevention services. "Every
possible effort must be taken without delay to further protect
children and prevent that risk," Ms Agius said, as she urged the
authorities to keep their word and set up the "long planned and
promised" community centres.

"These services should be introduced without further delay as they
would strengthen the currently poor preventive role of the system and
help identify and prevent problems before they escalate to such tragic
incidents of abuse," she said.

On Oct 12, 9:04 pm, Webmanager_CritEst  wrote:
> Sunday, 12th October 2008
>
> Call for sex offenders' register
>
> Claudia Calleja
>
> The government should place more emphasis on preventing the sexual
> abuse of children by introducing a sex offenders' register, an
> association said yesterday.
>
> It should also keep its promise to set up a series of community
> centres where a variety of social services would be made available to
> people in need.
>
> "Punishment and rehabilitation are important in fighting sexual abuse
> but the most important thing is to improve prevention and safety,"
> Maltese Association of Social Workers (MASW) chairman Anthea Agius
> said.
>
> Ms Agius called on the authorities to "seriously consider" introducing
> sex offenders' registration. She said it should first be discussed
> with agencies and services that worked in childcare in order to make
> the necessary recommendations to the current child protection system.
>
> The idea to have a paedophile register had surfaced in mid-2006
> following a controversy involving the Malta Football Association,
> which retained 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.
>
> Ms Agius raised the subject in the wake of a court judgment last week
> in which a 61-year-old man was jailed for nine years for raping the 10-
> year-old daughter of his partner. The abuse started when the girl was
> six and lasted for four years.
>
> During the court case, the girl said that her mother had ignored her
> cry for help. After the girl called the Appoġġ helpline and spoke to
> her headmistress about the abuse, she was removed from her mother's
> house and taken to a home.
>
> This case highlighted the need for better prevention services. "Every
> possible effort must be taken without delay to further protect
> children and prevent that risk," Ms Agius said, as she urged the
> authorities to keep their word and set up the "long planned and
> promised" community centres.
>
> "These services should be introduced without further delay as they
> would strengthen the currently poor preventive role of the system and
> help identify and prevent problems before they escalate to such tragic
> incidents of abuse," she said.

http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20081012/local/call-for-sex-offenders-register

WM
www.critest.com