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Jamie Sarkonak: Why this sex offender won't have to go on the national registry

It was mandatory for sexual offenders to be entered into the national database ... until the Supreme Court intervened

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A temporary resident named Karandeep Singh was convicted of sexual assault in Prince George, B.C., last month, but — after the judge heard that Singh faced potential deportation — he was exempt from the national sex offender registry.

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There was a time when this would have been impossible, as the written law requires all sexual assault convicts to be placed on the registry. In 2022, however, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled this to be unconstitutional and downgraded the registration of sex offenders from mandatory to optional. Whether to put someone on the list was left up to individual judges, who were much more merciful than Parliament.

Jamie Sarkonak: Why this sex offender won't have to go on the national registry Back to video

The Supreme Court reasoned back then that the onerous responsibilities that come with being on the sex offender registry weren’t appropriate or necessary for every single sex offender, and therefore a blanket requirement to register was a state........

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