In about the last ten years or so, many jurisdictions, especially in the United States, have passed laws requiring sex offenders, especially child sex offenders, upon conviction or subsequent release from prison, to register with the police where they live. This requirement is often in addition to the offender's legal sentence (punishment) and other restrictions, such as not allowing association with children and not living within certain distances from schools or parks. The exact provisions vary with the locality. The purpose of such registration and restrictions are to protect children and society by preventing future sex offenses. Pedophiles are often notorious for recidivism. In some localities, the lists of sex offenders are made available to the public, for example - through the internet. However, in other localities, the lists are not available to the general public but are known to the police. There are penalties for failure to register as required. In law, a sentence forms the final act of a judge-ruled process, and also the symbolic principal act connected to his function. ... Pedophilia (American English) or paedophilia / pædophilia (British English), from the Greek παιδοφιλια (paidophilia) < παις (pais) boy, child and φιλια (philia) friendship, (ICD-10 F65. ... Recidivism is the act of a person repeating an undesirable behavior after they have either experienced negative consequences of that behavior, or have been treated or trained to extinguish that behavior. ...

An example of such a registry is the Violent and Sex Offender Register in the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom, the Violent and Sex Offender Register (ViSOR) is a database that can be accessed by the Police and the Probation Service. ...

Although a couple of women sex offenders have been sensationalized in the news lately, the vast majority of sex offenders registered are men (about 99%). Various races in various neighborhoods are represented by the registered offenders in the United States including blacks, whites, and Hispanics, but hardly any Arabians and very few Asians.

There are also laws in many cases requiring certain professionals responsible for child caretaking (teachers, school counselors, etc.) to report child abuse, which in some cases my be sexual abuse, to authorities. Child abuse is the physical or psychological mistreatment of a child by his or her parents (including adoptive parents), guardians, or other adults. ... Sexual abuse is physical or psychological abuse or harm that involves sexual behavior. ...