The toughest laws in the nation to protect the community from child sex offenders will come into effect in South Australia from today.
Under the law changes, courts must sentence child sex offenders who have served a prison term and then go on to commit a further serious child sex offence to indefinite detention.
These dangerous offenders will never be released unless they can prove that they are no longer a threat to the community by demonstrating they are willing and able to control their sexual instincts.
Even if these offenders are ever released on licence, they will face being electronically monitored for the rest of their lives.
These laws build on other tough new changes to child sex offender laws introduced and passed by the Malinauskas Government including:
- Increasing penalties for a range of child sex abuse offences, such as increasing the maximum penalty for gross indecency with or in the presence of a child from five to 15 years.
- Legislating to ban child sex offenders from working alongside underage employees, in places such as hospitality or retail.
- Strengthening Carly's Law, so that tough penalties apply to offenders who communicate online with police officers posing as fictitious children.
As put by Kyam Maher
We now have the nation's toughest laws against child sex offenders - laws that will see repeat offenders locked away for the rest of their natural lives.
South Australian kids deserve to be kept safe from these vile monsters.
By ensuring there are strict criteria in place to prevent the release of serious repeat child sex offenders until such time as the courts can be satisfied they no longer pose a threat, we are ensuring the community is better protected.
Electronic monitoring of these serious offenders, if they are ever released, will ensure authorities know where they are at all times.
We can't undo the harm that these horrible predators have done to children in the past, but we have an obligation to protect the children of today and into the future.
