Ministry mulls automatic registration of child sex offenders
KUALA LUMPUR: The Women, Family and Community Development Ministry is seeking to amend the Child Act to allow automatic registration of child sex offenders.
Its deputy minister, Hannah Yeoh, said currently upon request from schools or care centres to check the list, the Welfare Department would have to write to the court and police to get feedback.
“This process is time consuming. Therefore, we are seeking to amend the act to ensure more comprehensive registry by allowing automatic registry of child sex offenders,” she said in reply to a supplementary question by Senator Datuk Ng Chiang Chin.
Yeoh said the registry had only about 300 sex offenders’ names, and the names were added manually into the courts and police data system.
Yeoh said the ministry hoped that in future, the registry would include the background of those transporting children and tuition teachers, among others.
Ng had asked about the ministry’s
plan to use the Child Act to ensure child sex offenders did not have contact with children at childcare centres or schools.
Yeoh also said 1,483 cases of child abuse by babysitters were recorded since 2013.
“From 2013 to June this year, 29 deaths were recorded at childcare centres and reported to the Welfare Department, with 13 cases at registered childcare centres, and 16 at unregistered childcare centres.
“From 2013 to July this year, 27 deaths of children at babysitters’ homes were reported to the police.”
Ng had asked about the number of cases of children being abused and beaten that resulted in death from 2013 to this year.
Yeoh said the ministry was also seeking to amend the Child Care Centre Act 1984.
She said the proposed amendment would ensure better supervision of babysitters taking care of fewer than four children.
Any babysitter who is looking after four or more children must register with the Welfare Department.