A paedophile has been nabbed while trying to fly out of the country, the first caught under tough new child sex tourism laws.
The registered child sex offender was stopped under tough new laws that came into effect at midnight preventing registered child sex offenders from leaving Australia.
The man is now being questioned by the Australian Federal Police, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters at Sydney International Airport on Wednesday.
A paedophile has been nabbed while trying to fly out of the country, the first caught under tough new child sex tourism laws (pictured are Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, left, and Justice Minister Michael Keenan at Sydney Airport)
‘A registered child sex offender was stopped here at the smart gates and has been prevented from travelling overseas,’ said Ms Bishop.
The Foreign Minister could not confirm where the man was flying to.
The new laws require the most serious offenders to register their travel plans and they cannot leave the country without government approval.
Their passports can be cancelled by authorities.
The registered child sex offender was stopped under tough new laws that came into effect at midnight preventing registered child sex offenders from leaving Australia (pictured is SmartGate passport detection technology at Sydney Airport)
‘Almost 800 registered child sex offenders travelled overseas last year, and about 40 per cent did so without informing authorities,’ said Ms Bishop in a statement.
‘For too long, these predators have travelled overseas undetected, including to countries where weaker laws mean they have opportunities to commit heinous crimes.’
‘We are aware they have a high propensity to re-offend if they are in a country where they are not monitored and where child sex exploitation is rampant,’ she said.
When introducing draft laws to parliament in June, Ms Bishop said about 20,000 child sex criminals were on the Australian National Child Offender Register.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan, who joined Ms Bishop on Wednesday, said the laws were the most comprehensive of their nature in the world.
The man is now being questioned by the Australian Federal Police, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told reporters at Sydney International Airport on Wednesday (pictured is SmartGate passport detection technology at Sydney Airport)
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