Attorney General Faris Al Rawi is setting the record straight as it relates to a public Sex Offender Registry which is to be set up with new legislation, confirming that the names of convicts will appear on the site. 

The correction comes after a newspaper article published on Wednesday suggested otherwise.

“The Attorney General did not say that names will not be on the public sex offender website, and this is not in the proposed law…” a statement from the Attorney General’s office clarified on Thursday.

The Senate on Tuesday voted unanimously in favor of the Amendments to the Sexual Offences Bill.

 AG Al Rawi further explained that what was stated during his contribution in the Upper House, is that persons will have the opportunity to apply to the Court for their information to be exempted from the website.

“Where an application for exemption does not succeed, the offender’s name will be on the website unless exempted by a Court of Law,” he said.

The Registry will also not bear the information of persons who have already served their time and have come out of the Court system, the AG said, clarifying that people currently incarcerated do not fall under this category.

The site, which will be managed by the Commissioner of Police, will also detail the offender’s location- but not his/her exact address.

“…Because the learning tells us you are not to put the specific address but rather the area, Port of Spain,
San Fernando as it may be, to avoid the concept of victimization,” Al Rawi said.

The legislation also includes a second, non-public register, which will be for use by the authorities.