Finally, the safety of our community will be considered

18th July 2019

“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.”

National MP Matt Doocey has entered a members bill to make it compulsory for the Dep of Corrections to notify schools when a sex offender is to be released into the community.

The proposed bill called the ‘Corrections (School Notification of Sex Offenders) Amendment Bill‘ concludes that if a sex offender is under a supervision order and is placed within a 5km radius of schools, the principal must be notified at least 48 hours before the offender is to be released.

Sensible Sentencing Trust (SST) National Spokesperson Jess McVicar says “Finally the safety of our community is going to be the paramount consideration when sex offenders are released on parole, and this will allow safety steps to be put in place for Principals, parents, caregivers and most importantly our innocent children. Congratulations and thank you Matt Doocey for taking this vital step to increase the safety of children.”

“Too many times we have heard about dangerous sex offenders being released into areas that are close to schools and vulnerable children without the communities’ knowledge. The Dept of Corrections are meant to consider the safety of the community before placing an offender at an approved release address, but unfortunately we are finding more and more cases of known sex offenders being placed in high risk areas.”

Jess says SST have been notified of at least four cases this year alone by members of various communities that a sex offender has been released and is residing close to a school and/or childrens’ play areas. The schools and residents have not been alerted by Corrections.

“We know of one that is currently residing in a community boarding house that has communal showers, so shared with woman and children! I struggle to understand how on earth the Dept of Corrections believe that is a good decision.”

The SST have long been pushing for the communities to be made more aware and notified when a convicted sex offender has been released into an area for a long time and have been disheartened it has taken this long.

“Our children are our most vulnerable, most innocent victims and we do not want to see any more children harmed by these ‘known sex offenders’. The safety of our community must be the paramount consideration.”

“Unfortunately, this Bill may not come into effect if it is not drawn out of the ballot box but we must have continued hope that our Government will see the importance of protecting our most innocent victims going forward. We often question why such a simple process has not already been put in place. By not putting the safety of our children and the safety of our community first, it reinforces the fact that the offenders rights are more important than the safety of the victims.” Ends.

https://www.tvnz.co.nz/one-news/new-zealand/members-bill-requiring-schools-notified-sex-offenders-placed-in-parliament-ballot

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