Public Register

Public Register Sarah Payne, an eight-year old girl who was murdered in September 2000 by an (ex) sex offender. Because of that, the British paper ‘News of the world’ published a list of convicted sex-offenders. Name, photo and place of residence were published. This naming and shaming campaign had far-reaching results. Two (ex)-sex-offenders committed suicide, and five innocent families had to move. The Belgium government prevented a list of convicted sex-offenders at the last moment. …

…there are a lot of potential sex-offenders who are still free. Because only convicted sex offenders are registered in the public register. So you can see that although search and prosecution would be easier, the identity and place of residence of (ex) sex offenders shouldn’t be published in a public register for two main reason. First, because of the rule of law. But most importantly, because a false feeling of safety is being created.