Govt considering detaining serious sexual offenders beyond jail term, until deemed no longer a threat to public

SINGAPORE — The Law and Home Affairs ministries are studying proposals to have dangerous offenders detained until they are assessed to “no longer pose a threat” to the public, instead of being automatically released after serving their jail term.

Under this proposal, first-time and repeat offenders convicted of very serious hurt and sexual crimes will have to finish serving a minimum jail term of five to 20 years and then be assessed by the authorities whether they are fit for release.

If deemed unfit, they will continue to be detained.

Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam, who announced this in Parliament on Tuesday (April 5), described it as a novel approach to better protect members of the public from dangerous offenders.

Mr Shanmugam was responding to a question by Ms Joan Pereira, Member of Parliament for Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency, who asked what safeguards are in place to protect members of the public, particularly children and women, from recalcitrant sex offenders.

The new sentencing option, Mr Shanmugam said, “would represent a major change in the way our sentencing regime works because today, the court imposes a sentence and when it ends, the person is released.”

“The United Kingdom tried this approach, I would say with very mixed results, but I believe we can make it work.”

In serious cases such as the rape of a young child or rape followed by murder, in instances where the death penalty is not meted out, a judge can only impose a strict sentence with no assurance that the offender would no longer be a threat to society after the sentence ends, he said.

“There have been enough cases around the world where the day after the person is released — literally — he goes out and commits another serious offence.

"We have not had many but we have had one or two cases in Singapore, too,” he said. “So really, you can only assess some of these cases at the point of release.”

For now, the law allows judges to hand out harsher punishments to recalcitrant sex offenders under the corrective training or preventive detention regimes that are longer than the maximum term prescribed for the offence.

Corrective training sentences range from five to 14 years and preventive detention sentences from seven to 20 years. Recalcitrant offenders also undergo longer rehabilitation programmes and supervision.

The Ministry of Law and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) sought public feedback on proposals for the new detention regime for dangerous offenders in July last year.

Mr Shanmugam said that the ministries are studying the feedback received.

He added that government agencies such as the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Social and Family Development work closely with the police to screen prospective employees applying for jobs that involve working with children, such as in licensed preschools and schools.

However, it remains unclear whether all employees working in such environments are screened, Mr Shanmugam said, adding that he has asked MHA to strengthen the screening framework while ensuring that ex-convicts have a second chance at life.

Ms Pereira also asked if MHA would consider lifelong counselling and monitoring of recalcitrant sex offenders.

Mr Shanmugam said that the ministry will refer the suggestion to the relevant agencies, but added that offenders of serious sex crimes can at present be placed on the Mandatory Aftercare Scheme.

This scheme provides better community support, counselling and case management with tight supervision for up to two years for released inmates who are at a higher risk of reoffending or need more support reintegrating into society.

The Singapore Prisons Service also works closely with the families of ex-offenders and community partners to support inmates after their release, he added.

Asked by Leader of the Opposition Pritam Singh whether inmates jailed for serious sexual crimes under the current regime are assessed on their ability to reintegrate into the public, Mr Shanmugam said that prison officers do conduct such assessments to find out what sort of intervention is needed.

Inmates are categorised from low to high risk, for example, and are given different interventions and assistance in prison such as job training, education and other forms of rehabilitation.

Even after they are released, the authorities take a “very detailed” approach to try and place ex-offenders on jobs as best as they can, Mr Shanmugam said.