The Department of Education has been unaware of a large number of child sex offenders attending schools in Western Australia.
‘Hundreds’ of children aged between 10 and 17 years have slipped under the radar of ministers, who called an urgent meeting to discuss the risk in March.
According to documents obtained by WA Today, it is ‘likely there are offenders in schools unknown to the school or department administration and therefore no risk management or support is in place.’
Data from the Children’s Court of WA shows 132 students in the 10-17 age bracket were charged with sex offences in 2015 and 2016.
Nearly 600 children were charged with sexual assault and related offences between June of 2010 and 2015.
Recently there was outrage from Western Australian parents after it was revealed three boys who were either charged or accused of rape had returned to school without the community being informed.
Current laws have created animosity between parents, schools and the government as the state is not required to inform the appropriate bodies about a child’s criminal past because of a minor’s statutory right to have a protected identity and an education.
Children are able to return to a school without any medical assessments or relaying of information to the school and community.
Parents have demanded changes to laws that see children with convicted and accused violent pasts return to schools where they have offended.
One incident saw a ten-year-old plead guilty to sexually penetrating a child and threatening to kill an eight-year-old in December of 2016.
The boy returned to school after the charges were dropped because he was not mentally fit to stand trial, only for public outrage to force his removal in February this year after not being informed of the situation.
Bail conditions for the boy demanded he attend school, further complicating the issue.
“When it comes to someone at such a young age, everybody in the government, police etc, just really don’t know how to handle it,’ a spokesman for a group of parents told WA Today.
The emergency meeting, overseen by Education Minister Sue Ellery, discussed using the system of Isolated and Distance Education, that serves children living in isolated regions of Western Australia, but many child sex offenders did not have the appropriate supervision.
Ellery’s notes from the meeting stated bail conditions applied to most of the offenders ‘prevent them from having contact with other children except for when in school.’
The government conceded it was difficult to find fair ground for all parties, but that the situation was most effectively handled when the child sex offender is ‘not placed in a school or similar environment where other children attend.’
Source: Education Department unaware hundreds child sex offenders | Daily Mail Online
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