winnipegsun.com: Editorial: Sex Offender Registry
Not only is the sex offender registry notoriously incomplete and will continue to be under the proposed new legislation, but it is also a misguided and misdirected law that casts far too wide a net, in the process preventing authorities from dealing with the really big problem at hand, that is, sexual abuse against children. More than 95% of sexual crimes against children are by family members or at the hands of people they know.
A statistically insignificant number of these despicable, heinous attacks are ever reported, with the result that the number of charges and subsequent convictions resulting from these crimes, albeit very important, are few and far between. Child protection laws must be reported, given adequate resources, both from a financial and human resources point of view, and enforced. It is scary and unthinkable to consider the consequences of failing to deal with child abuse when this, in the grand scheme of things, continues to be a low national priority.
-Emile Therien, John Howard Society
