KAWARTHA LAKES-There are 118 sex offenders on the Sex Offender Registry being monitored by Kawartha Lakes Police Service in Lindsay although not all of them live in the community. Â According to police 48 individuals reside in our area who are required to register under the SOIRA
In a letter sent to the Kawartha Lakes Police Service, officials with the Ontario Sex Offender Registry say offenders from the Central East Correctional Centre, released into the community pose a particular challenge for Kawartha Lakes Police Service Detective Constable Amy Farr.
“She is commended for her efforts trying to obtain mandatory OSOR information from offenders released into your jurisdiction. These details can be vital to investigations and she works hard to obtain it. We commend D/Cst Farr for her dedication and hard work and look forward to working with her in the future.” said Tanya Sampson A/Staff Sergeant – Manager Ontario Sex Offender Registry Behavioral Sciences & Analysis Services.
The Ontario Sex Offender Registry (OSOR) captures details of individuals convicted of designated offences under Christopher’s Law (Sex Offender Registry), 2000, The OSOR is described as an investigative and crime prevention tool providing information to police Services relating to sex offenders residing within their jurisdiction and within the Province of Ontario.
According to Chief Mark Mitchell it is up to the “originating agency”, in this case the Kawartha Lakes Police Service, to ensure the offender is in compliance.
“It’s a considerable amount of work. As you know for example there’s a special arrangement where inmates from Nunavut are housed at CECC, so if they return back to Nunavut and fail to register back there then it falls to us to close that loop.” Mitchell told the Police services Board. “As you can imagine theres a fair amount of non-compliance and it’s the originating agency’s responsibility to ensure compliance.”
Kawartha Lakes Police Service is considered the “originating agency” for any sex offender released from CECC whether they stay in our community or not.
It’s unclear how much this costs the local taxpayer.
“I can’t give you an exact number as to the cost of managing the OSOR. It is part of D/Cst Farr’s responsibility as our Domestic Violence Coordinator.” Chief Mitchell told Kawartha 411. “We do not receive funding from the Provincial government for managing compliance with the SOIRA locally.”
The letter from the Ministry is part of a mandated yearly site assessment done by the government to review a variety of areas of the registry to ensure the content is accurate and current and therefore a valuable tool for investigations. A review of compliance for offenders is also completed to ensure successful monitoring is being conducted. The assessment and review was done in Lindsay on September 4th 2019.Â
Offenders who are considered non-compliant are those who have failed to comply with the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIRA). Low offender compliance poses a significant risk to public safety and creates a growing liability for police services if left unaddressed according to the Ministry.
“Your OSOR compliance rate was 97.9 percent. This is above the average provincial compliance rate of 97 percent. To date, your compliance is 95.8 percent but D/Cst Farr has issued warrants for both non-compliant offenders and is actively seeking compliance.” said Sampson
At the time of the letter in September two of the 118 offenders being monitored by Kawartha Lakes Police are currently unaccounted for. One has registered since the date of the letter and a warrant has been issued for the second.
