Keeping The Monsters At Bay

ACT New Zealand Associate Justice Spokesman Deborah Coddington was today pleased to launch the latest edition of her `New Zealand Paedophile & Sex Offender Index' - and described it as another step toward protecting communities from sexual predators.

"This book, along with my Sex Offenders' Registry Bill - which has been sent to Select Committee - will go some way toward protecting the innocent from the horrors of sexual abuse. This is one of the reasons why I came to Parliament," Miss Coddington said.

"The first edition of this book created a storm in New Zealand and around the world. It sold 17,448 copies in New Zealand, and the subsequent Australian edition sold more than 25,000. I expect this edition to be just as successful.

"The 2004 edition contains entries for 1,868 convicted paedophiles and sex offenders, and gives detailed information about their offences, where they were committed, who they were against and the sentences the perpetrators received. It includes indexes of offenders by town, city and location and occupational grouping.

"I expect this book to become a key reference for schools, other educational institutions, kindergartens and early childhood agencies, police, Government agencies such as WINZ, care-givers, people employing baby-sitters and child-minders, and the media.

"ACT believes in zero tolerance for crime. Victims' rights must be protected, and the public deserves to know the dangers that exist in their communities and on their very doorstep. With this information, law-abiding New Zealanders can enjoy life, liberty and happiness, free from fear," Miss Coddington said.

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