Children on the National Register of Sex Offenders must be given the opportunity to ask a court for their name to be removed. This is in line with changes to the law governing teenage sex.There are at present 196 children on the register, which lists 18295 people in total, according to the Department of Justice and Correctional Services.The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill is now one step closer to being signed into law. It was approved by the National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces last month.Though the changes to the law relating to teenage sex have been broadly welcomed, there are fears there will be problems in their implementation.The amendments decriminalise consensual sex between children aged 12 to 16.The bill also states that before children can be placed on the sex offenders' register, a prosecutor must apply for such an order.The court must also consider a report on the probability of the child committing another sexual offence before reaching a decision.Ann Skelton, director of the Centre for Child Law at the University of Pretoria, said there was concern that many people we re not aware of the changes to the law, including the children affected.Joan van Niekerk, president of the International Society for the Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, said the "biggest challenge" would be in ensuring children had an opportunity to address the court.She said the bulk of the responsibility would fall on probation officers, as they would have to assess the likelihood of a child re-offending."Probation officers will require further training and supervision and mentoring on the assessment of children convicted of sexual offences," said Van Niekerk.She said that listing children on the sex offenders' register could have "lifelong consequences" for them...