An­na-Lisa Paul

Se­nior Re­porter

an­na-lisa.paul@guardian.co.tt

The Trinidad and To­ba­go Po­lice Ser­vice (TTPS) is warn­ing the pub­lic against tak­ing vig­i­lante ac­tion against sex of­fend­ers who may be liv­ing in their com­mu­ni­ties.

Speak­ing at yes­ter­day’s week­ly me­dia brief­ing at the Po­lice Ad­min­is­tra­tion Build­ing in Port-of-Spain, TTPS pub­lic in­for­ma­tion of­fi­cer ASP Owie Rus­sell urged peo­ple to let good sense pre­vail and re­port any con­cerns to the po­lice im­me­di­ate­ly.

The pub­lic can ac­cess the Pub­lic Sex Of­fend­er Web­site, which iden­ti­fies sex of­fend­ers and gives the lo­cal­i­ty where they live. Rus­sell said it should be used on­ly as “a tool for aware­ness and the pro­tec­tion of our chil­dren and fam­i­lies.”

Rus­sell ex­plained that the Sex­u­al Of­fences Act, Chap­ter 11:28, pro­vides for two reg­is­ters. The Sex­u­al Of­fences (Amend­ment) Act, 2021, led to the cre­ation of the Na­tion­al Sex Of­fend­er Reg­is­ter and the Pub­lic Sex Of­fend­er Web­site, both of which the Com­mis­sion­er of Po­lice is re­spon­si­ble for man­ag­ing and main­tain­ing.

The Na­tion­al Sex Of­fend­er Reg­is­ter is for law en­force­ment use on­ly. The pub­lic can ac­cess the web­site at sex­of­fend­ers.gov.tt.

Con­vict­ed sex of­fend­ers are added to the web­site on­ly af­ter the po­lice re­ceive a court or­der. The in­for­ma­tion post­ed in­cludes their name, alias, date of birth, pho­to­graph, ad­dress lo­cal­i­ty and reg­is­tra­ble of­fence, along with the date of con­vic­tion.

Al­though the web­site does not pub­lish an of­fend­er’s spe­cif­ic ad­dress, Rus­sell urged the pub­lic not to mis­use it.

“This web­site ex­ists to let the pub­lic iden­ti­fy a sex of­fend­er and know the lo­cal­i­ty where he lives. It is a tool for aware­ness and the pro­tec­tion of our chil­dren and fam­i­lies.”

Rus­sell urged peo­ple to view the in­for­ma­tion but not share it, warn­ing that “it is a se­ri­ous of­fence to re­pro­duce its con­tents, in­clud­ing the of­fend­er’s pho­to­graph, name and ad­dress.”

“That means no screen­shots on What­sApp, no What­sApp for­wards, no so­cial me­dia posts,” he warned.

Rus­sell said the law must bal­ance pub­lic ac­cess to in­for­ma­tion with of­fend­ers’ right to pri­va­cy to pre­vent vic­tim­i­sa­tion and vig­i­lante jus­tice. He warned that “any­one who takes mat­ters in­to their own hands al­so com­mits an of­fence.”

Un­der Sec­tion 48(4) of the act, any­one who in­ten­tion­al­ly and with­out law­ful ex­cuse or jus­ti­fi­ca­tion re­pro­duces, shares or us­es in­for­ma­tion from the web­site com­mits an of­fence. On sum­ma­ry con­vic­tion, they are li­able to a fine of $25,000 and three years’ im­pris­on­ment.

Rus­sell urged any­one who sees the in­for­ma­tion be­ing mis­used to re­port it to an of­fi­cer with the rank of sergeant or above at any po­lice sta­tion.

“Use the in­for­ma­tion to pro­tect your­self and your loved ones.”

Ac­knowl­edg­ing that an of­fend­er’s pres­ence in a com­mu­ni­ty could prompt anx­i­ety, anger and sus­pi­cion, Rus­sell ap­pealed to the pub­lic, “Do not use it to shame, ha­rass or harm. If you have in­for­ma­tion about a sex­u­al of­fence, re­port it to the po­lice.”