Kasčiūnas backs register for child sex offenders

Laurynas Kasčiūnas, leader of Lithuania’s Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats, supports creating a register of people who have committed sexual offences against children, LRT reported, citing ELTA.

“I would definitely support legalising a register of paedophiles,” Kasčiūnas told Žinių radijas on Friday. He said the party’s parliamentary group had not yet discussed the proposal, but he believed many of its members would support it.

Kasčiūnas said a public register could reflect the public’s right to know and potentially deter offenders. However, he cautioned that data protection requirements and other regulations could create legal difficulties.

“There will be many legal nuances, including European data protection regulations,” he said. “But I think we should make a serious decision on this issue. If we say such disclosure is necessary, we should go ahead and do it.”

Prime Minister Mindaugas Sinkevičius said on Monday that the Seimas should return to the initiative to create a register of people who have committed sexual offences against children. President Gitanas Nausėda and Seimas Speaker Juozas Olekas have also said the proposal should be considered.

Justice Minister Rita Tamašunienė said during an interinstitutional meeting on Monday that discussions on a public register of sex offenders should resume. She said a compromise would be needed on human rights issues and that the proposal did not necessarily envisage a register applying for life.

Last week, the Prosecutor General’s Office said it had referred to court a criminal case in which a Roman Catholic priest who worked in the Vilnius Archdiocese was charged with sexual offences against minors. The charges involve 34 alleged criminal episodes, including child sexual abuse, possession of pornographic material and involving children in drinking.

The case is connected to another criminal case referred to court at the end of June against another priest who also worked in the Vilnius Archdiocese. He is charged with possessing pornographic material.

Although the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Vilnius Archdiocese have declined to identify the priests, they have been named as 56-year-old Tadas Švedavičius and 51-year-old Ryšardas Peciunas.