Huge spike in number of sex offenders put on the register in last year
One-in-four added to list in last 12 months, and offences up 40% since 2011
ONE in four of all sex offenders placed on the register since 2011 have been added in the past year, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
The number of people who have committed a variety of sexual offences and whose movements are monitored by gardaí has increased by over 40% since 2011.
It rose from 1,175 people in 2011, to 1,661 by the end of April this year, based on the most recent available figures from An Garda Síochána.
The addresses of 120 sexual offenders have also been taken by gardaí in the past 12 months, the figures show.
A series of legislative amendments are due to be passed to impose tougher penalties on sex offenders – which could see that number rise even further – with those who distribute ‘revenge porn’ also due to be listed as sex offenders under new laws.
Experts are now warning that Ireland is nonetheless facing an ‘epidemic’ of sexual abuse unless the activities of children and teenagers online are monitored.
Maeve Lewis, executive director of One in Four, a charitable organisation which helps all those connected to sex abuse, told the MoS that currently they have a waiting list of 15 people due to lack of funding, which she described as ‘mind-boggling when you consider the harm that can be caused, while they are waiting to engage with us’.
Its rehabilitation programme treated 40 sex offenders in 2016, rising to 51 last year, and approximately 30% are in the 18 to 25 age bracket, a demographic of offenders which is continuing to grow. Many will not be seen until the autumn, she said.
‘About a third of those we see have started their journey to offending by downloading images of child sex abuse at a very young age, often during puberty. They become sexualised through those images and have gone on to abuse siblings and relatives,’ she said.
‘We’re going to be looking at an epidemic if we don’t help our children to manage their online behaviour in a healthier way. If parents are giving smart phones to eight and nine-year-olds they may as well let them out alone in Dublin city centre on a Saturday night – and what parent would do that?’ she said. Noeline Blackwell, director of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, said it’s hard to quantify whether there is a real increase in sexual offending in recent years, or a greater number of people now coming forward to report sexual crimes.
Ms Blackwell has called for the State urgently to carry out a national survey on sexual violence, as the last such survey was done in 2002. It found one-in-three women had experienced sexual violence. ‘If one in three on the street were being physically assaulted there would be a total outcry about it and, as far as we know, one-in-three women are being sexually assaulted and there isn’t the same outcry about it, because you can’t see it,’ said Ms Blackwell.
Under the Sex Offenders (Amendment) Bill 2018, a sex offender will have to notify gardaí of any new address in three days, not seven.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2018 contains sentencing provisions for the offence of incest. The new Sex Tourism Bill will also prevent convicted paedophiles from travelling to developing countries, where child sex trafficking is rife.