‘Courts must stop sheltering sex offenders’ – Lisa Maria Foundation

The Lisa Maria Foundation has expressed concern that the name of a volleyball coach who was found guilty of installing web-cams to ‘peep’ on his female team members, was not disclosed by court order.

The man, who was also a manager at a childcare centre, was sacked from his job after he was found guilty of sexual abuse by a court.

The foundation said all sex offenders’ names should go on the register of sex offenders, and called on the courts to stop sheltering the guilty from the public. “The law abiding public and vulnerable groups cannot be put at risk from the sex offenders as happened recently when a convicted sex offender was found driving a mini bus with children to and from school. The public must be informed as to who has been found guilty of a sex offence.”

“The Lisa Maria Foundation finds it incredible that the Court finds no difficulty in naming and shaming persons who commit minor crimes, such as stealing small amounts of money or for that matter producing meat pies without a permit, but protects the identity of sex offenders,” the foundation said.

The foundation was set up in the aftermath of the death of Lisa Marie Zahra, whose suicide was allegedly abetted by Erin Tanti, who stands accused of her murder.

“Whilst it is understood that one needs to protect the identity of the victims, the naming and shaming of sex offenders will serve as a huge deterrent to others to think carefully of the consequences before committing any type of sex offence,” the foundation said in a statement.

The foundation also said that it was citizens’ rights to know if a sex offender was a neighbour or at the same place of work or present at a children’s school or training ground.

“If sex offenders are not named how it is possible for an employer to make sure that they are not introducing a sex offender amongst innocent and possibly vulnerable employees? Laws today impose on employers the legal obligation to check on potential employees to ensure that they are not sex offenders.