Canada should warn foreign countries about travelling sex offenders: author

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This article was published 14/10/2010 (5786 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG – It is wrong for Canada to allow convicted pedophiles like Graham James to travel freely abroad without warning the affected countries of their arrival, the author of a new book on human trafficking said today.

Benjamin Perrin, who is in Winnipeg to promote his book, Invisible Chains: Canada’s Underground World of Human Trafficking, said the United States has had a law since 2006 requiring convicted sex offenders to give 21 days advance notice of their intention to travel abroad and to notify authorities upon their return.

It allows U.S. authorities to participate fully in an Interpol program that tracks the whereabouts of such offenders.

But there are no such requirements under Canadian law, Perrin told reporters today at a news conference organized by Kildonan-St. Paul Conservative MP Joy Smith.

If there were, Perrin said, James would have had to notify authorities that he was going to Mexico, his last known destination. James, who served three and a half years in prison after facing sex assault charges in 1997, now faces nine new sex abuse charges dating back to the late 1970s. A Canada wide warrant was issued for his arrest late Wednesday.

Perrin noted that there are no known allegations against James in Mexico, but authorities there should have been warned that he was coming.

“Mexico is a known child sex tourism destination. Estimates put the figure at 30,000 children who are sold for sex in Mexico,” he said.

Canada and the United States routinely share information about past convictions, but we don’t have similar bilateral relationships with other countries, Perrin said.

“The research shows the majority of individuals who abuse children at home will also have done so abroad,” Perrin said. “So we can’t allow for Canada to export our pedophiles to the world and leave these other countries in the dark about their prior convictions.”

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca