A convicted child sex criminal was stopped at Sydney Airport as he attempted to leave Australia on the day new laws on child sex tourism laws came into effect.
Australian foreign affairs minister, Julie Bishop said on Wednesday, Dec. 13 that the arrest was proof the law is effective but gave few details on the man arrested.
“I don’t wish to prejudice the interview, but he was stopped here at the smart gate, because of these laws, because his name appeared on the watch list,” she said.
“They will also have their passports cancelled at the request of state or territory authorities,” said the minister’s statement.
The government said that Australia has knowledge of about 20,000 child sex offenders who have served their sentences but are subject to reporting obligations that help to protect the community.
“For too long, these predators have traveled overseas undetected, including to countries where weaker laws mean they have opportunities to commit heinous crimes,” the ministers said in the joint statement.
The government said that last year, some 800 Australian-registered child sex offenders travelled overseas. Around 40 percent did so without informing authorities of their travel. This will no longer be the case, said the government.
The ministers said this law is a world first in addressing the problem.
The new law was championed by Australian senator Derryn Hinch.
“A convicted child sex offender [was] turned back at Sydney Airport today under [a] new passport ban law that I got passed this year. Those child rape holidays for Aussie deviates are over,” tweeted Hinch, a former broadcaster.
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