Five years after the Samoa Government launched the sex offender registry, there are a little over 100 sex offenders registered including one woman.
This was confirmed by Police Commissioner Auapa’au Logoitino Filipo in response to questions from Radio Polynesia.
He said this registry mandates that all sexual offenders are to provide their personal details, and that one of its sole purposes is to protect the women and children of Samoa.
However, according to the law, information on the convicted sex offenders registry is confidential.
The registry was signed into law in 2018 to keep track of and monitor the movements of sex offenders in the Country, said the Police Commissioner.
In March, this year Supreme Court Justice Vui Clarence Nelson expressed concerns over “serious sex offenders being repatriated to Samoa as returnees without any information”.
He said this presents “danger” to the local residents and that the Sex Offender Registry should also ensure proper monitoring of such people”.
He made the comments in line with the Ministry of Police and Prisons launching of the Sex Offender Registry in Savai’i back in March, five years after the registry Act was signed into law.
Justice Nelson told Radio Polynesia the move to establish the Sex Offender Registry came about after a man came out on parole and upon his release, the sex offence occurred immediately against a seven-year-old girl and that is one of the purposes of the registry.
Adding that the registry targets rapists and repeat sex offenders.
