A registered child sex offender was stopped at an Australian airport Wednesday, within hours of new laws designed to prevent convicted pedophiles from traveling overseas coming into effect. It is now an offense for registered child sex offenders — those convicted of the most serious forms of abuse in Australia — to leave the country without approval from law enforcement agencies. ADVERTISEMENTForeign Minister Julie Bishop said a man was being questioned by Australian federal police after being stopped at Sydney airport under the new laws. “Australia has up to 20,000 registered child sex offenders who have served their sentences but are subject to reporting obligations that help to protect the community,” Bishop had said earlier. Justice Minister Michael Keenan has called the crackdown “the toughest on pedophiles in a generation”, making Australia “a world leader in protecting vulnerable children overseas from child sex tourism.”

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer December 13, 2017 12:11 UTC