Yellowknife (May 02/05) - A man convicted last month of sexual assault is among the first prisoners in the territory added to a national registry of sex offenders, but his lawyer questions the fairness of the law in the small, isolated communities of the North.

Adam Casaway, 24, will have to notify police every time he changes address or jobs for the next 20 years - provisions the Lutsel K'e resident will almost certainly violate, said lawyer James Brydon.

"He will not remember," said Brydon, who noted his client suffers from fetal alcohol spectrum disorder - a condition that can effect memory and other cognitive skills.

"It will set him up for breaches (of his conditions of behaviour and activities) and more criminal charges," the lawyer said.

Casaway pleaded guilty March 29 to sexually assaulting a female acquaintance in a Yellowknife apartment last October.

He was originally scheduled to stand trial on the charge in Supreme Court when he reached the plea agreement with the Crown. According to court documents, Casaway had sexual intercourse with the woman while she slept.

Supreme Court Justice Virginia Schuler sentenced Casaway to two years less one day for the sex-crime and placed him on probation for 18 months.

Casaway had previous convictions in his record for impaired driving, taking a motor vehicle without consent and failing to appear in court.

In a written decision issued in mid-April, Schuler ordered his name be added to the national sex-offender database.

The federal government unveiled the registry in December of 2004.

It was designed to provide police with easily accessible and up-to-date information on convicted sex offenders.

Data in the registry can include the age and gender of victims and their relationship to the offender - along with a raft of personal information about the convict from their work phone number, to home address, to distinguishing physical marks.

The data is not available to the public. There are several limitations placed on its use, even for police.

The language of the legislation is so restrictive, police had to seek a legal opinion before revealing the number of people registered in the Northwest Territories.

Anyone who discloses information to the public could face six months in jail or a $10,000 fine.

"The registry is designed to be an investigative tool," said Crown Attorney Noel Sinclair who prosecuted the Casaway case. "Not to make public disclosures."

Sexual assault rates in the Northwest Territories are more than four times the national average according to numbers from Statistics Canada.

Important tool

The registry is an important means to combat "the terrible problem of sexual assaults in our community," Sinclair said.

The Crown considers several factors when applying for the database order including criminal history, likelihood to re-offend and gravity of the offence.

"It is a question of weighing all the factors," Sinclair said.

While he said the legislation would be helpful in larger centres, its application in most Northern communities is redundant.

"Police already know those people who have been convicted of sexual assaults," Brydon said.

The legislation, he contends, will simply lead to violations and more criminal convictions - while offering few benefits to police.

"These are people who frequently forget to pay their phone bills," Brydon said of some offenders who could be required to register.

Brydon said the registry is overly restrictive and compared it to something from George Orwell's classic book "1984" - a bleak, futuristic tale of government oppression.

In her written decision, Schuler said while the 20-year order is somewhat restrictive, it is balanced by the need to protect the public.

"While registration will certainly have some impact on his privacy," Schuler wrote.

"I have to balance that against the purpose of the legislation."