Authorities in the Northern Marianas say a new public website listing sex offenders will stop them using the CNMI as a haven.
In the United States sex offenders have to register with police if they move regions but up until now CNMI has not had a public register, unlike other territories and states.
The Department of Public Safety spokesman in CNMI, Jason Tarkong, says some offenders have taken advantage of that in the past.
"We believe that some people feel that because they can still benefit from living under the US flag because we are a territory and we are US citizens that they can come here and may not be required to register and unfortunately the last two cases that we worked on dealt with child pornography and were people convicted in the States and never registered here."
Jason Tarkong says the register holds about fifty names at present and the public can now check offenders' identity, address and conviction.
