Website to identify sex offenders

Known sex offenders and their addresses are about to be included on a website being set up by a judicial lobby group.

The Sensible Sentencing Trust said the site would be running within two or three weeks. It would "push the boundaries" on naming people, said spokesman Garth McVicar.

"How far we will go, we will take legal opinion on each case," he said.

Much of their information would come from victims who were being urged to provide the trust with copies of their sentencing notes, he said.

"We will be cautious in every case. It is not about trying to get retribution. It is about holding offenders accountable and responsible and disclosing what their previous history has been."

Mr McVicar said many offenders continued to offend after they were released from prison.

He said recidivist sex offenders should be chemically castrated to reduce their sex drive to offend and that should be a condition of their release.

A separate institution needed to be established to hold recidivist, hard core sex offenders in what should be a life sentence.

"How many victims must we have before we decide that is what we are going to do," he said.

He said a legal opinion received by the trust said a recidivist offender could be named for previous offences even if he had name suppression for the latest offence.

- NZPA