By Mar-Vic Cagurangan
Variety News Staff

A BIPARTISAN bill seeks to amend the local law protecting minors against sexual offenders by centralizing the database for persons convicted of sex crimes in order to create a more efficient system of information sharing with the public and among government agencies.
Bill 105 also expands the scope of the Sex Offender Registry by requiring all sex convicts, regardless of date of conviction, to register with the Guam Police Department. The current local statute only covers sex convictions for offenses committed after Jan. 1, 1993.
“Too many children’s lives have been shattered by child molesters and kidnappers and too many of our citizens have been victimized through sex offenses. We must move forward, and not stall, in the prevention of future sex crimes and crimes against our children,” said Sen. Frank Ishizaki, R-Yona, main author of Bill 105.
“The right step is to enact legislation that would strengthen our Sex Offender Registry law and Bill 105 is the right step in the right direction,” he added.
The bill, coauthored by Minority Leader Judi Won Pat, D-Malojloj, and Majority Leader Ray Tenorio, R-Yigo, designates the Judiciary of Guam’s Sex Offender Registry Management Office as the main entity that would gather and store all required information on sex offenders.
Tenorio is the author of the current statute, and a separate measure that prohibits the government of Guam and its private contractors from hiring persons convicted of sex crimes.
The bill’s proponents said centralizing the database would allow “a one-stop center for the public to request information from.”
“In keeping with federal statutes relating to sex offenders and the protection of our community from such heinous acts, it is the intent of the bill to make certain that the community is fully aware of all those who have or can have a potential for harm due to their past offenses,” according to a press release from Ishizaki’s office.
The bill also adopts the mandates set by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
“Recognizing that federal guidelines have yet to be established by the U.S. Department of Justice in carrying out the Act, Ishizaki believes that waiting for such guidelines is not worth the safety of our community, especially the life of a child,” the press release added.