Today the Cabinet agreed to bring forward proposals to target repeat sexual
offenders which would broadly reflect that proposed by Minister of State
Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran in his Bill – the Criminal Justice (Commission of
Sexual Offences) (Amendment) Bill 2017. Cabinet also approved Minister
Flanagan’s proposals to amend the gender anomaly with respect to incest.
Both issues will be contained in a Government Bill which Minister Flanagan
will seek Cabinet approval for in the Autumn.
Speaking following the Government meeting, Minister Flanagan stated:
“Today Cabinet approved a number of proposals to strengthen the penalties
for repeat sexual offenders and to amend existing incest laws.
“The major provisions with regard to the establishment of minimum mandatory
sentences for repeat sexual offenders are based on the work of Minister of
State Moran and I would like to acknowledge his commitment and dedication
in working with my department to develop these proposals.
“There are already provisions in place under the Criminal Justice Act 2007
to allow for minimum sentences to be imposed for certain repeat offenders
and these new proposals will bring serious sex offenders within the scope
of those provisions.
“Today Cabinet also approved my proposals to bring forward measures to
address a gender anomaly with respect to the penalties for incest. I
consider it appropriate that both issues could be addressed in a single
Bill. It is my intention to bring forward to Cabinet a General Scheme to
make the necessary provisions in the Autumn.
Ends
Note to Editors
Repeat Sexual Offenders
It is intended to bring forward provisions to provide for presumptive
minimum mandatory sentences for repeat sexual offenders. As a private
member, Minister of State Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran introduced a Bill which would
amend the Criminal Justice Act 2007 [“2007 Act”] to add a number of sexual
offences to Schedule 2 of that Act. Schedule 2 contains offences to which
Part 3 of the 2007 Act applies. Part 3 provides for particular sentencing
arrangements for certain categories of offences.
Section 25 of the 2007 Act provides that where an offender is convicted of
an offence listed in Schedule 2 of the Act and is sentenced to imprisonment
for a period of at least 5 years and is subsequently – within a period of 7
years – convicted of a further offence listed in Schedule 2, the court
shall, when imposing sentence for that offence, specify the minimum term of
imprisonment to be served by the person. The minimum period of imprisonment
shall be three quarters of the maximum term of imprisonment prescribed by
law in respect of such an offence and, where the maximum term is life
imprisonment, the minimum shall be specified as a term of not less than 10
years.
New proposals to make the necessary amendments to the 2007 Act will be
developed.
Amendment to Incest laws
Under the Punishment of Incest Act 1908 incest by a male carries a sentence
of up to life imprisonment whereas incest by a female carries a maximum
sentence of 7 years imprisonment.
Provision was included in the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 to
correct this difference in penalty and it was intended to increase the
penalty for incest by a female to life imprisonment to replicate that for
an offence by a male. However, during the final report stage in Dáil
Éireann, there were objections to increasing the penalty for incest by a
female to life on the grounds of it being overly severe.
New proposals to correct the gender anomaly will now be advanced.
Monitoring sex offenders in the community
Ensuring safe communities is a key responsibility of the Probation Service
who monitor offenders following their release into the community. As well
as operating a range of modern risk assessment tools to assess the
likelihood of reoffending behaviour by the sex offenders that they
supervise, including being a key element of the Sex Offender Risk
Assessment and Management (SORAM) structure along with An Garda Síochána,
the Probation Service funds a number of different services aimed at
providing support for convicted sex offenders in the community and reducing
potential offending behaviour.
These include the Sex Offender Resettlement Team (SORT) and PACE sex
offender services. The SORT programme provides intensive one to one
probation support and monitoring working closely with statutory and
non-statutory partners in reintegration and risk management of sex
offenders who are homeless on leaving custody. PACE is a community-based
service funded by the Probation Service and operates three services for sex
offenders under supervision who are classified as being medium to high risk
of re-offending. These are the Foothold Floating Support Service which is a
one to one support and reintegration service, the Safer Lives programme
which is a rolling treatment programme focusing on good lives and relapse
prevention and Circles of Support and Accountability Programme which seeks
to support sex offenders who are isolated in the community. The person
being supported is also held accountable for current and future behaviour
and the model enables monitoring of risk by the local SORAM team.