Sex Offender Registry, Jamaica

The Sexual Offences Act, 2009 allowed for the establishment of a Sex Offender Registry in Jamaica and the Sexual Offences (Registration of Sex Offenders) Regulations, 2012 details the operation of it. The Registry, which falls under the management of the Commissioner of Corrections, was established in July 2014 and is currently located at 12-14 Lockett Avenue (Kingston Gardens), Kingston 4. The Registry is headed by a Registrar and it is the location from where the Sex Offender Register is maintained and the affairs of the Sex Offender Registry Registration Centres are administered.

There are three main systems that are used worldwide to determine the registration of sex offenders; these are risk-based, sentence-length-based and offence-based. Under the offence-based system, registration is required when an offender is convicted for one of the listed or specified offences. It is said that the dangerousness or severity of the crime is not reflected by this system. This is the system utilized in Jamaica’s jurisdiction in determining the sex offenders who are to be registered.

Who are to be Registered?

Sex offenders, who are convicted for a specified offence and not exempted, are to be registered once the conviction is recorded in the Supreme Court by the Registrar; the Circuit Court by the Clerk of the Circuit Court; or the Court of Appeal. . Offenders are kept on the Register and are monitored for at least 10 years before they are eligible for termination of the registration and reporting requirements.

Currently, the four (4) Acts which account for the specified offences are the Sexual Offences Act; Offences against the Person Act; Child Care and Protection Act and the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Suppression and Punishment) Act. The specified offences are Incest; Rape; Marital Rape; Sexual Touching or Interference; Sexual Grooming of a Child; Sexual Intercourse with Person Under Sixteen; Householder Inducing or Encouraging Violation of Child under Sixteen; Grievous Sexual Assault; Indecent Assault; Abduction of a Child under Sixteen; Violation of Person Suffering from Mental Disorder or Physical Disability; Forcible Abduction; Procuration; Procuring Violation of Person by Threats or Fraud or Administering Drugs; Abduction of Child with Intent to have Sexual Intercourse; Unlawful Detention with Intention to have Sexual Intercourse; Living on Earnings of Prostitution; Offences under Section 76, 77 and 79 of the Offences Against the Person Act (Unnatural Crime, Attempts and Outrage on Decency); Offences under Section 4 of the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Suppression and Punishment) Act; and Offences under Section 10 of the Child Care and Protection Act (Prohibition Against Sale or Trafficking of Children).

Reporting Obligations of Sex Offenders

• Sex Offenders (who are not exempted from Registration and Reporting Requirements) shall within three (3) days from being sentenced, and not in lawful custody, report to the Sex Offender Registry Registration Centre that serves the Parish in which they reside.
• Sex Offenders, who are being released from correctional institutions, whether on parole or otherwise, shall within three (3) days from being released (not into lawful custody) report to the Registration Centre that serves the Parish in which they will be residing.
• After the initial visit to the Registration Centre that serves the Parish in which Sex Offenders reside, they shall return :

1. Within 14 days after changing Main or Secondary Residence;
2. Within 14 days after changing name;
3. At any time between 11 months and a year after the last visit to the Centre.

• Sex Offenders shall not leave Jamaica before first notifying the Registry their intention to do same.
• Complete and submit in person a ‘Notice on Absence of Sex Offender’ form within 14 days of the date of departure if they intend to travel outside of Jamaica or intend to stay at an address/location other than main/secondary residence for a period of at least 14 consecutive days.

1. Report actual return to main/secondary residence not later than 14 days after return date.

Removal of Sex Offenders from the Register

• After the expiration of ten (10) years from the date of the imposition of the Registration and Reporting Requirements (Original Period), a Sex Offender shall be eligible for termination of the Reporting Requirements imposed.
• Upon the expiration of Original Period, a Judge in Chambers shall make an order to either:

1. Terminate the Registration and Reporting Requirements; or
2. Continue with/without variation for a Further Period not exceeding ten (10) years. *Judge can apply 1 or 2 at end of Further Period.

Application for Removal from the Register

A Sex Offender may apply to a Judge in chambers for an Order to terminate the Registration and Reporting Requirements. However, this can only happen if the registered sex offender was given additional periods or the Reporting Requirements were varied after the expiration of the Original Period of ten (10) years.

Breaches of the Reporting and Notification Requirements

A sex offender who contravenes the Reporting or Notification Requirements of the Sexual Offences Act, 2009 commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction in a Parish Court to a fine not exceeding one million dollars ($1 000  000.00) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding twelve (12) months or to both such fine and imprisonment.

Access to Information in the Register or Registry

All information in the Register and the Registry shall be secret and confidential. Access to information in the Register or Registry can only be given to persons or organizations who are deemed to have legitimate interest such as members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force; persons engaged in the professional counselling of sex offenders; prospective employers and employees of the sex offender; persons managing facilities for the care or treatment of vulnerable persons at which the sex offender is, or has applied to be, a patient, employee or volunteer; persons managing educational institutions at which the sex offender is enrolled or is seeking to enroll; persons acquiring information approved by the Minister for statistical purposes; and a parent, guardian, caregiver, nearest relative or person having an association with the sex offender.

The individuals and organizations highlighted above can get access to the information by making an application in writing to the Commissioner of Corrections, Department of Correctional Services, 5-7 King Street, Kingston or to the Registrar, Sex Offender Registry, 12-14 Lockett Avenue, Kingston 4. The applications should provide such information as is reasonably necessary to enable the Registrar to identify the individuals.

Where the applicant is not the appropriate person deemed to receive the information, but it is established that the sex offender poses a risk to a particularly vulnerable person or class of vulnerable persons, the information can be disclosed to a member of the Jamaica Constabulary Force, the Children’s Advocate or a public authority, who can protect the vulnerable person.

Registration Centres

There is a Sex Offender Registry Registration Centre for all the parishes, except Kingston and St. Andrew where the Centre is a combined one. The Registration Centres are located at the parish Probation Offices and are the locations from where the Registration Officers conduct the registration process of sex offenders. These centres are equipped with the requisite facilities to receive reports, notifications and other pertinent information from convicted sex offenders, who are to be registered.

Addresses and Contact Information for the Registry and Registration Centres

The addresses and contact information for the Sex Offender Registry and the Registration Centres are highlighted below:

Know the Facts

1. The Sex Offender Registry in Jamaica is headed by a Registrar and is under the daily management of the Department of Correctional Services.
2. The Sex Offender Registry was established in July 2014.
3. The Registry is governed by the Sexual Offences Act, 2009 and the Sexual Offences (Registration of Sex Offenders) Regulations, 2012.
4. Sex Offender Registry Registration Centres are located at the parish Probation Offices.
5. Offenders are kept on the Sex Offender Register and are monitored for at least 10 years before they are eligible for termination of the registration and reporting requirements.
6. The law in its present stage does mandate for victims to be informed, if their convicted offenders will be residing in their communities or relocated there at later dates.
7. Removal of registrants from the Sex Offender Register can only be ordered by a Judge in Chambers of the Supreme Court.
8. No sex offender shall leave Jamaica before first reporting to the Registry his or her intention to leave the jurisdiction.
9. Sex offenders shall complete and submit in person a “Notice on Absence of Sex Offender” form to their parish Registration Centre where they intend to travel overseas or intend to stay away from their residence for at least 14 consecutive days.
10. A sex offender who fails to comply with any obligation imposed upon him or her by the Sexual Offences Act and its Regulations commits an offence, and on summary conviction in a Parish Court shall be liable to a fine not exceeding $1,000,000.00 or imprisonment up to 12 months, or to both such fine and imprisonment.