The Cabinet on Tuesday passed a proposal to have high-risk sexual offenders, such as those who committed crimes against children, reside at state-designated facilities after serving prison terms.
The bill on the designation of the residences for high-risk sexual offenders will be submitted to the National Assembly for approval, the justice ministry said.
The ministry has spearheaded the drafting of the bill after a series of local communities strongly protested and demonstrated as notorious child rapists settled in their neighborhoods in recent years upon their release from prison.
The envisioned bill mandates the court to issue an order restricting high-risk sexual offenders’ rights to choose their residences, requiring them to live in designated places operated by the central or regional governments or other public organizations.
Subject to the restriction are sexual offenders who have committed crimes against children under the age of 13 or those with a record of at least three sexual crimes, resultin
g in a 10-year or heavier prison term for sexual offenses and a court order to wear an electric location tracking device.
The bill would give the court the authority to decide whether to restrict the residences of sexual offenders, determine the duration of the restriction and designate residential facilities for them upon a request by officials responsible for monitoring former convicts and a review by prosecutors.
Prior approval is necessary for those affected by the enactment to leave the designated places for travel or business trips lasting a day or longer. Additional restrictions, such as a ban on going out at certain hours or entering areas designated for child protection, can be imposed.
The government had initially sought to draft the bill in a way that would prohibit high-risk discharged sexual offenders from living within a certain distance from schools, similar to Jessica’s Law in the United States. It reverted, however, in consideration of different public safety circumstances of each region.
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s of the end of 2022, a total of 325 former sexual convicts would be subject to a review for residential restriction under the proposed enactment, and by 2025 the number will increase by 187, according to the justice ministry.
Source: Yonhap News Agency