Sex offenders’ list now tops 100

Saturday 22 April 2017

Figures just released show there are now 116 Islanders on the sex offenders’ register.

That’s an increase of 27 on 2015.

Thirty-three are in prison and 83 in the community. The majority of those in the community are managed by what is called JMAPPA (Jersey Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements) level 1 (single agency), with 14 being dealt with via the higher JMAPPA levels of 2 & 3.

Although 14 of those being dealt with at the higher levels were sex offenders, most were being monitored because of their violent or dangerous nature. Out of these 48 most serious cases – the overwhelming majority – 36 – were born in Jersey. Eight gave the UK as their place of birth, and the other four were born further afield. Nine were under 25, and only two were women.

The JMAPPA was set up in 2011 after the implementation of the Sex Offenders (Jersey) Law 2010 to manage sexual, violent or dangerous offenders, together with potentially dangerous persons.

The group draws on the skills of a number of agencies including the Police, Probation, the Prison and Customs and Immigration, with support from Home Affairs, Housing, Health and Social Services & Education. A number of “interested parties” are also involved, including the Honorary Police.

The approach is now in its sixth year, and Police say although the number of sex offenders has risen, because the system is more streamlined it’s  become much more efficient and is proving a success. They say: “a new refinement in the risk assessment has made the process more efficient and effective and allows professionals more time to focus on offenders who might be deemed a high risk to reoffend.”

According to the Police: “the number of offenders being managed through this multi-agency process saw a reduction (20) when compared with 2015. Subsequently the number of multi-agency meetings required to consider these individuals dropped from 135 in 2015 to 82 in 2016, a reduction of 39%.”

Detective Superintendent Stewart Gull, Chairman of JMAPPA, said:
“The figures shown in this year’s report are testament to the fact that the JMAPPA process works. Since its inception six years ago, the agencies within this partnership have worked with and supported high risk offenders within the community ensuring that they also take personal responsibility for their behaviour and conduct.”