Concerned citizens are one step closer to being able to check the Sex Offender Register according to the Women’s Resource Centre.Elaine Williams from the centre has been working with Attorney General Kim Wilson and the Coalition for the Protection of Children to establish a protocol for access to it.She explained: “We have recently held meetings with the Attorney General in hopes of creating awareness for the use of the Sex Offender Register. The register has progressed to the establishment of a protocol.“The protocol states that the request for information about a sex offender should be made to the police, who make the request to the Attorney General.“The Attorney General, based on the information from the police, then authorises the release of information. It is our understanding that the details of the procedure like who can have access to the information are being ironed out.“We hope to finalise these discussions very shortly with the outcome of establishing who will have access to the register as well as informing the community of its existence and the procedure for gaining information.”The register was established in October 2001, but campaigners have complained that it is impossible for members of the public to find out who is on it. Calls have been made in the wake of various criminal cases for a publicly-available register such as in the US and UK.In 2008, Senator Wilson stated that convicted sex offenders who have been jailed are obliged to inform police of their name and address for ten years after their release.The punishment for failing to do so is a maximum $3,000 fine and/or a six-month prison sentence.The law also allows the Attorney General to order the disclosure of details of offenders, including photographs, to individuals or groups if the person is thought to pose a significant threat.Sen Wilson stated in September 2009 that no such order had been made since the law was passed in October 2001.She explained that the community does not have an automatic right to be notified of dangerous sex convicts such as in the US under Megan’s Law, which authorises law enforcement agencies to publish their names and pictures on websites.Sen Wilson said there were human rights concerns about implementing such a measure in Bermuda.She was replaced as Attorney General by Michael Scott in November 2010 before being shuffled back into the post in November 2011.Mr Scott said in July 2011 that he was reviewing the system for tracking sex offenders and would report to Parliament on the issue before the next Parliamentary session.“I note that the placing of the obligation on the sex offender alone to notify the police of relevant details including his name and/or aliases and his address and/or change of address could be strengthened,” he said at the time.He did not reply to follow-up inquiries from this newspaper and no report was brought to Parliament on the issue.Likewise, Senator Wilson has declined to give an update on the topic despite repeated requests from The Royal Gazette.Sheelagh Cooper of the Coalition for the Protection of Children said she understands that “no such thing as an actual list of sex offenders”, is in existence at present, although the police do keep records.“If someone running a day care centre, for example, were to call the police to ask if a certain individual they were thinking about hiring had a history of sexual offences, they would not be able to give them any help. They would not give them any information,” she said.Mrs Cooper welcomed the protocol being drawn up, and stressed that she is not asking for the register to be published for everyone on the Island to read.“I think for a small place like Bermuda, we need a central register available to individuals who have a need to know,” she claimed.Ms Williams agreed, saying: “I am not in favour of it being available to the general public. I believe it should be available to those who have the experience to use it appropriately.”However, at least one member of the community has taken the issue into their own hands in apparent frustration at the lack of publicly-available information.A Facebook page called Bermuda Pedo’s [sic] sprang up in February, and has posted dozens of pictures of convicted sex offenders.The anonymous founder of the page did not reply to requests for comment, but it has attracted 42 fans who say they like it.Some have given updates on the whereabouts of the convicts since their release from jail, while others have complained that they have been blocked from accessing information by the authorities.