A Sunshine Coast man has been added to the National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR), after being successfully prosecuted for at least one incident of a sexual assault against a young woman.
Sunshine Coast RCMP cannot release the identity of the man, who was in police custody at the time of the report, but have brought the matter to the attention of the Town of Gibsons and District of Sechelt through the detachment's second quarter mayor's report.
Convicted offenders can be added to the national registry only when ordered by a criminal court judge, said Sgt. Tim Shields of the RCMP's media relations E-Division. But the registry does not encompass community notification - the authority to notify the public of the release of high-risk sex offenders is regulated under the Privacy Act.
"Simply put, regardless of a persons inclusion on the NSOR, we still need to demonstrate an immediate risk to the public in order to notify the public," wrote Cpl. Don Newman of the Sunshine Coast RCMP's Serious Crime Unit in an email to Coast Reporter.
Sunshine Coast RCMP reported the man is believed to be responsible for several incidents of sexual assault to younger females in public, and noted that data shows sexual assaults on the Coast have risen since 2007. The news was the subject of discussion at an August community services committee meeting in Gibsons, and Coun. Bob Curry plans to discuss the issue in further detail at the town's next policing committee meeting.
Sunshine Coast RCMP staff sergeant Kevin Picard and spokesperson Sgt. Stuart Falebrinza were both away and unavailable for comment by the Coast Reporter's deadline.
The Sex Offender Information Registration Act was proclaimed as law and came into force on Dec. 15, 2004.
