PUTRAJAYA: Beginning April 1, individuals or childcare organisations will be able to check prospective employees for criminal records of sexual offences against children.
Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Hannah Yeoh said the Sexual Crime Registry System (eDKK) was managed by the Welfare Department.
She said its database contained the names of 3,000 offenders convicted for sexual offences against children.
“All parents, schools, employers and those involved in handling children should check the details of the persons they are employing, including babysitters, to make sure they are free of such records,” she said at the launch of eDKK by Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail at the ministry here today.
Yeoh said the offenders had been convicted under Section 118 of the Child Act 2001 (Act 611) from 2017 to last month.
She said 300 of the 314 convicted child offenders in 2017 were first-time offenders.
Last year, she said, 605 of the 639 offenders were first time offenders.
“To check the database, all you need to do is fill up the form, stating your purpose, and provide the identity card number of the person you plan to employ or engage with your children,” Yeoh said, adding that it was free of charge and could be done at the nearest state and district level Welfare office.
“If an application is done at a state Welfare Department, the results can be obtained immediately.
“If it is done at a district level office, the results can be obtained in five working days.
“Even if their names are not in the database, we want parents to exercise their own judgment, because many of the convicted offenders are first-time offenders,” Yeoh said.
She said the registry was part of the ministry’s initiatives to protect children.
“This database is updated with the help of the courts and police,” Yeoh said.
Asked whether the sexual offenders list would be made public, she said there was no plan to do so as it required consultation with other ministries.
Yeoh said the ministry was planning to include the names of sexual offenders from other countries with the cooperation of police and foreign governments.