Sexual Offences Amendment Bill bans officials from disclosing registry names

Jun 07, 2026 News

(Kaieteur News) – Severe penalties await database insiders who leak information from Guyana’s proposed National Sex Offender Database, according to the newly tabled Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill.

The piece of legislation aims to overhaul the country’s framework for handling sexual offences, introducing the centralised registry alongside measures to prevent data breaches from within.

According to the Fourth Schedule, Section 7 of the Bill, any individual granted official access to the database who “unlawfully distributes, transmits, or reproduces any information contained therein” commits a criminal offence. Upon summary conviction, insiders face a fine of $100,000, a three-year prison sentence, or both.

This specific penalty is strictly a data-breach provision targeting authorized personnel, such as law enforcement officers or registry administrators, who abuse their security clearance, rather than a blanket restriction on the general public.

The Bill seeks to amend the Sexual Offences Act, Cap. 8:03, creating a centralized system to record individuals convicted of sexual offences both locally and internationally. The application of the database extends to Guyanese citizens and residents convicted of “enterable offences” within Guyana or abroad, regardless of whether they have completed their sentences. The database will not be open to the public, however, requests can be made to the Commissioner of Police.

The legislation creates carve-outs for vulnerable populations. The database provisions will not apply to individuals who were children at the time of the offence, or those suffering from mental disabilities that substantially impaired their mental responsibility.

The Bill also establishes strict protocols for community reintegration and victim safety. Under Section 91H, the Director of Prisons must inform the Commissioner of Police of an offender’s scheduled release three months in advance. The Police Commissioner is then legally mandated to notify the victim and their family within two months of receiving that notice.

Furthermore, in a bid to bridge geographic gaps in public safety infrastructure, the Bill dictates that in Indigenous villages or communities where no police station is present, registered sex offenders must report directly to the local Toshao.

Beyond the registry, the Bill introduces substantial procedural reforms to modernize trials and protect vulnerable complainants. Clause 5 allows witnesses to give pre-recorded video evidence or testify via audio-visual links. To prevent the exploitation of this sensitive footage, the Bill criminalizes the unauthorized distribution or reproduction of these recordings without a lawful excuse. The legislation also expands the legal definition of a “position of trust.” Clause 3 explicitly inserts “Toshao” into these provisions, ensuring indigenous leaders are held to the same stringent statutory standards regarding abuse of authority as other custodial figures. The term “child-minder” is also modernized to “caregiver.” Employees of state and non-state institutions working with children or vulnerable adults will face a statutory duty to report any reasonable suspicion of sexual abuse. In the absence of a local police station in interior communities, these reports must be submitted in writing to the Toshao. In a bid to protect due process, Clause 7 strictly prohibits the publication of any information that could identify a person who has not yet been formally charged under the Act.

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Amendment Bill, corruption, offenders, rape, Sexual offences

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