After the Anti-Sex Tourism law took effect in Australia this December, it immediately kept one convicted pedophile from leaving the Sydney airport.
The law seeks to keep registered child sex offenders from leaving the country for travel, specifically to Southeast Asia.
The Australian child sex offender register currently has a list of 20,000 convicted pedophiles who have served their sentences.
Because of this newly imposed law, the said offenders will be barred from leaving the country, unless approved by law enforcement agencies.
40% of the 800 child sex offenders that travelled out of Australia last year did so without notifying the authorities
According to Australian Prime Minister Julie Bishop, around 40% of the 800 child sex offenders that travelled out of Australia last year did so without notifying the authorities.
“For too long, these predators have traveled overseas undetected, including to countries where weaker laws mean they have opportunities to commit heinous crimes,” Bishop told the New York Times.
This is just the beginning of what the Australian government hopes will be an aid in cutting down the number of child exploitation cases in countries like Indonesia, where Australian Robert Ellis sexually abused 11 girls in a Bali resort.
The Philippines is also a common destination, where, in 2016, 53-year-old Peter Gerald Scully, from Melbourne was arrested for committing 75 counts of extreme child rape and torture, and filming it for an international pedophile ring over a period of several years.
These shocking crimes have caused the Philippines to consider reinstating the death penalty, which was outlawed in 1986.
Australian authorities will also implement tougher laws targeting digital pedophilia, which impose stricter penalties on internet service providers who do not report online child sex abuse.
sources: The New York Times, The Japan Times, News.com.au
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