One Bermuda Alliance candidate Susann Roberts-Holshouser has warned the dangers of sexual deviants to children is a rapidly growing issue in Bermuda, which is all the more reason to push for a public sex offenders register in Bermuda.Responding to recent comments made by Attorney General Senator Kim Wilson, Ms Roberts-Holshouser said now more than ever is the time to move forward. She took issue with the Attorney General’s statement last week in the Senate that Bermuda’s laws do not allow for such a registry to be in the public domain as with similar registers in the United States.“Whilst historically there have been demands from some segments of the community for a US styled sex offenders register in the wake of convictions for sexual offences, Bermuda’s laws, which are modelled on UK law, do not allow for the establishment of such a register,” said Ms Wilson.In a statement issued yesterday, Ms Roberts-Holshouser said: “I am sure I am not alone in my dismay at the Attorney General’s negative and depressing statement which essentially ruled out any chance of a public register of sex offenders being established in Bermuda.“The danger that paedophiles and other sexual deviants pose to children and young people is a rapidly-growing issue,” she said. “Although official statistics say there were under 100 cases of child sex abuse reported to them in 2009, Family Centre Director Martha Dismont feels that police figures reflect severe underreporting.”Ms Roberts-Holshouser noted that Ms Dismont told a legislative committee recently that cases of child abuse are probably “ten times greater than official figures”. She also cited figures released by the Juvenile and Domestic Crime Unit in 2005 “that it is likely that one in every three female children and one in five male children in Bermuda have been sexually abused”.“Even if one ignores the apparent tendency to underreport sexual abuse, those are absolutely horrifying figures,”, she said. “The the law in England was amended in 2008, as a result of public outcry over the rape and murder of a little girl called Sarah Payne, to allow for an expanded use of the UK register of sex offenders. Anyone who fears their child is being exposed to a sex offender in some way is entitled to ask the Police for information about that person. If the police agree the fears are reasonable, they are permitted to turn the offender’s record over.”Ms Holshouser-Roberts continued: “Bermuda has a register of child sex offenders; it is part of the Children Act 1998. The difference between Bermuda and Britain is that here, only child care professionals are entitled to obtain an offender’s record.“No child care professional has ever done that, apparently, so it could be said that our register is more or less useless. Whether it is even properly kept up is not known,” she said. “We also have the ability to amend our law to bring it into line with current best practice in the UK. I personally am strongly in favour of a completely public register of sex offenders. I think many, if not most Bermudians, agree with me. I cannot believe that people as inventive and resourceful as Bermudians are incapable of finding a way to accomplish that. My party, the One Bermuda Alliance, will certainly not rest when we become the Government, until we have done just that,” she said.“This is a serious issue, if we can believe the unofficial estimates, the damage caused to individuals and families by sexual abuse is incalculable.”Last week Sen Wilson explained that information regarding sex offenders can be released on a case-by-case basis if it is found the individual presents a risk of serious harm to the health and safety of the public, an affected group of people or an individual.However there is a general presumption that information about sex offenders should not be disclosed due to its effect on the ability of the individual to live a normal life, the risk of violence against the offender and the concern that such attention would drive sex offenders underground.If an individual is considered a risk, Sen Wilson said that the responsible Minister must consider the facts of the case, such as the seriousness of the risk and how the disclosed information would be used.