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| Federal police unable to track all child sex offenders who go to south-east Asia | |
| (12 days later) | |
| Federal police have no way of comprehensively tracking child sex offenders who try to enter south-east Asian countries, a Guardian Australia investigation has found. | |
| People on the child sex offenders register – which comprises almost 15,000 names – are required to advise police of any travel outside Australia, but Guardian Australia was told by police many offenders did not do so. | |
| The Australian federal police says it does not always stop those offenders at Australian airports. Instead they alert destination countries when offenders leave Australia, and rely on those countries to monitor them or send them back. | |
| The AFP did not have figures for the number of child sex offenders who had been denied entry by other countries, an AFP spokeswoman said, pointing Guardian Australia instead to individual immigration departments of those countries. | |
| The Indonesian immigration departmentsaid it had denied entry to 85 registered Australian child sex offenders between November and July. | The Indonesian immigration departmentsaid it had denied entry to 85 registered Australian child sex offenders between November and July. |
| A spokeswoman for the department of immigration in the Philippines said it had turned away 63 Australian child sex offenders since the start of 2014. | A spokeswoman for the department of immigration in the Philippines said it had turned away 63 Australian child sex offenders since the start of 2014. |
| Related: Australian man Peter Scully pleads not guilty to child rape in Philippines | Related: Australian man Peter Scully pleads not guilty to child rape in Philippines |
| Guardian Australia did not receive a response from the Cambodia, Vietnam or Thailand immigration departments. A spokeswoman from the Singapore immigration department said she was unable to say how many registered sex offenders had been denied entry, but said: “Every visitor’s entry into Singapore is neither a right nor automatic and each entry is considered on its own merits.” | Guardian Australia did not receive a response from the Cambodia, Vietnam or Thailand immigration departments. A spokeswoman from the Singapore immigration department said she was unable to say how many registered sex offenders had been denied entry, but said: “Every visitor’s entry into Singapore is neither a right nor automatic and each entry is considered on its own merits.” |
| Between January 2010 and 30 June this year, 12 Australians were charged in Australia on 25 counts of travelling overseas to sexually offend against children, the AFP told Guardian Australia. | Between January 2010 and 30 June this year, 12 Australians were charged in Australia on 25 counts of travelling overseas to sexually offend against children, the AFP told Guardian Australia. |
| “As part of the Asia Pacific region, we continue to see Australian registered sex offenders take advantage of the proximity and cheap air travel of several countries within the south-east Asia region,” the spokesman said. | “As part of the Asia Pacific region, we continue to see Australian registered sex offenders take advantage of the proximity and cheap air travel of several countries within the south-east Asia region,” the spokesman said. |
| “The AFP notifies foreign jurisdictions of the pending travel; it is then up to the destination country to ascertain whether they allow the individual entry, or turn them back.” | |
| AFP data said that as of 30 June there were 14,914 offenders on the Australian National Child Offender Register (Ancor). | AFP data said that as of 30 June there were 14,914 offenders on the Australian National Child Offender Register (Ancor). |
| In March, Peter Gerard Scully, a 51-year old from Victoria, was charged in the Philippines with the murder of a 12-year-old girl as well as human trafficking and child abuse offences. Police allege he abused at least eight girls ranging from 18 months to 13 years old over a period of three years. | In March, Peter Gerard Scully, a 51-year old from Victoria, was charged in the Philippines with the murder of a 12-year-old girl as well as human trafficking and child abuse offences. Police allege he abused at least eight girls ranging from 18 months to 13 years old over a period of three years. |
| Asked whether Scully was on Ancor before he went to the Philippines, the AFP said it was an offence to disclose publicly names on Ancor. | |
| In June, the Victorian government made changes to the Sex Offenders Registration Act to give police the power to impose stricter reporting obligations on sex offenders who travelled out of Australia by making it a requirement they verify their itinerary and movements while they travelled. | |
| Guardian Australia understands these stricter reporting requirements were implemented in response to concerns of Victoria police about the difficulty of corroborating a registrant’s reported and actual travel movements. | Guardian Australia understands these stricter reporting requirements were implemented in response to concerns of Victoria police about the difficulty of corroborating a registrant’s reported and actual travel movements. |
| “Stricter reporting of overseas travel is designed to give police better and more immediate information and deter child sex tourism,’’ Victoria’s police minister, Wade Noonan, said. | |
| “Our collective priority should be to keep children here and overseas safe from sexual predators.’’ | |
| In May, NSW police signed a memorandum of understanding with the AFP to strengthen the sharing of intelligence about child sexual exploitation, including information about offenders in NSW who planned to travel overseas. | In May, NSW police signed a memorandum of understanding with the AFP to strengthen the sharing of intelligence about child sexual exploitation, including information about offenders in NSW who planned to travel overseas. |
| A professor of child development with the University of South Australia, Freda Briggs, said Australian offenders went overseas because they believed children in developing countries could be more easily manipulated and it was worth the risk. | A professor of child development with the University of South Australia, Freda Briggs, said Australian offenders went overseas because they believed children in developing countries could be more easily manipulated and it was worth the risk. |
| “Children are more readily available in poor countries where families are large and parents lose the capacity to feed them,” she said. | “Children are more readily available in poor countries where families are large and parents lose the capacity to feed them,” she said. |
| Related: Child sex offenders in South Australia named on police website | Related: Child sex offenders in South Australia named on police website |
| “They can be bought for very small sums of money. As one Thai policeman said, ‘If we stopped paedophiles from coming, the hoteliers would complain’.” | “They can be bought for very small sums of money. As one Thai policeman said, ‘If we stopped paedophiles from coming, the hoteliers would complain’.” |
| Very few offenders were caught and prosecuted either in Australia or overseas, she said. Often, the child was the only witness to the crime and if they were from another country, their command of English was likely to be inadequate to withstand rigorous cross examination by barristers in an Australian criminal court, Briggs said. | Very few offenders were caught and prosecuted either in Australia or overseas, she said. Often, the child was the only witness to the crime and if they were from another country, their command of English was likely to be inadequate to withstand rigorous cross examination by barristers in an Australian criminal court, Briggs said. |
| “They are easily manipulated and less likely to ‘dob’ than children in Australia,” she said. | “They are easily manipulated and less likely to ‘dob’ than children in Australia,” she said. |
| Dr Melissa Curley, a senior lecturer in Asia Pacific international relations with the University of Queensland, said the AFP should be praised for increasingly alerting other countries to the presenece of registered sex offenders. | Dr Melissa Curley, a senior lecturer in Asia Pacific international relations with the University of Queensland, said the AFP should be praised for increasingly alerting other countries to the presenece of registered sex offenders. |
| It was impossible to impose a blanket travel ban on offenders, she said, because some crimes were less serious than others, and it would require enormous resources to monitor the thousands of people on the list. | It was impossible to impose a blanket travel ban on offenders, she said, because some crimes were less serious than others, and it would require enormous resources to monitor the thousands of people on the list. |
| “The most disturbing and abhorrent idea is that of people on the sex offender register, with a criminal history of offending, seeking to travel abroad to countries with a high proportion of disadvantaged children,” Curley said. | “The most disturbing and abhorrent idea is that of people on the sex offender register, with a criminal history of offending, seeking to travel abroad to countries with a high proportion of disadvantaged children,” Curley said. |
| “I wouldn’t want to put a figure on it but what we can say from the research I’ve done is you can see Australians are well represented in foreign law cases in the crime type of child sex tourism. But they’re not the majority of offenders.” | “I wouldn’t want to put a figure on it but what we can say from the research I’ve done is you can see Australians are well represented in foreign law cases in the crime type of child sex tourism. But they’re not the majority of offenders.” |
| The federal police also said the social appetite for child exploitation material in Australia appeared to be increasing. | The federal police also said the social appetite for child exploitation material in Australia appeared to be increasing. |
| “The AFP has seen an increase in the number of child exploitation material reports over the past five years,” a spokesman said. | “The AFP has seen an increase in the number of child exploitation material reports over the past five years,” a spokesman said. |
| “Both the volume and velocity of reports received concerning the sexual exploitation of children is increasing, as is societal appetite for such materials. This is a challenge for law enforcement.” | “Both the volume and velocity of reports received concerning the sexual exploitation of children is increasing, as is societal appetite for such materials. This is a challenge for law enforcement.” |
| The number of child exploitation material referrals received by the AFP’s assessment centre in Canberra increased from 3,725 in 2012 to 5,617 by 2014. By June this year, there had already been 5,592 referrals. | The number of child exploitation material referrals received by the AFP’s assessment centre in Canberra increased from 3,725 in 2012 to 5,617 by 2014. By June this year, there had already been 5,592 referrals. |
| • Editor’s note: on 25 August 2015 this story was amended to make clear that it is a requirement of the law rather than at the discretion of the AFP that names on Ancor not be publicly disclosed, and that in the absence of a relevant court order the AFP does not have a legal mechanism to stop sex offenders from travelling overseas. |
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