Cambridge Bay (Oct 25/04) - The community of Cambridge Bay has stopped just short of banishing Desmond Kaosoni, a convicted sex offender who is again facing similar charges.

"We didn't go for outright banishment," said Mayor Terry McCallum. "We just want offenders more severely dealt with."

To that end, he said council voted unanimously in favour of writing a strong letter to the Nunavut Department of Justice seeking the same process as what is in place in Kimmirut to deal with convicted sex offender Mikidjuk Utye.

"After (Utye) was sentenced, he is not allowed back in Kimmirut without permission of the courts," he said.

"We would like a similar type thing to be applied here."

Hamlet officials are also examining if they would be allowed to advertise the presence of sex offenders through the police or other sources as it is done in southern Canada when such individuals are released after serving their time.

"Maybe we need a halfway house to slowly get them rehabilitated and back into society," he said.

Kaosoni returned to Cambridge Bay in September after serving two-thirds of a 12-month jail term which began Jan. 8 for attacks committed in December 2003.

As a condition of his early release from the Baffin Correctional Centre, he had been placed on probation, police said.

"Are offenders getting enough counselling and follow up while they are incarcerated and when they get out?" he said.

"We need to address the way case workers and probation workers deal with these individuals."

There are social services and a wellness centre in Cambridge Bay, but he said the pain won't be erased easily.

He points to another recent incident in the community when a woman fell asleep on her couch after returning from dropping her child off at school.

"The next thing she (woke up and she) was being assaulted," McCallum said. "That is what really upsets people. People think they are safe in their houses."

The 22-year-old Kaosoni will appear in Iqaluit court on Nov. 2 to answer to charges of two counts of sexual assault with a weapon, one count of aggravated sexual assault, one count of sexual assault and breach of probation stemming from incidents in Cambridge Bay reported on Sept. 30.