New figures have shown 396 convicted perverts on the sex offenders’ register in the UK are wanted because their whereabouts are unknown, including some who have been missing for more than a decade.
And two of those were being monitored in the Northumbria Police area, while one was in County Durham.
One convicted sex offender in Northumbria disappeared in May 2002, while the whereabouts of the other has been unknown since November 2008.
Registered sex offenders - including rapists and paedophiles - are required to inform police and probation officers of their addresses and are supposed to be monitored by officials working under multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA).
But in freedom of information responses 39 forces revealed there were missing registered sex offenders in their areas.
Sara Payne, whose daughter Sarah was abducted and killed in 2000 by convicted paedophile Roy Whiting, said: “It’s completely unacceptable that any registered sex offenders have disappeared from authority management, putting the public at risk.
“It’s time to take some serious proactive action to bring them back under the police radar.”
The NSPCC described the figures as “alarming” and said its own research had found there was just one police staff member responsible for every 50 registered sex offenders.
Jon Brown, the charity’s lead for tackling sexual abuse, said: “About half of those on the register are offenders who have raped or sexually assaulted children, or committed online child abuse image offences, however most just receive one police visit a year after they have been released from prison and a period of supervision.
“The monitoring of registered sex offenders in communities needs urgent attention by the Government to ensure it is fit for purpose.”
A Home Office spokeswoman said: “The UK has some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders and we are committed to ensuring the system is as robust as possible.
“It is for the police to manage offenders in their area, but we work closely with forces to ensure legislation is effective and that officers have all the tools they need.”
And Deputy Chief Constable Michelle Skeer, who is the National Policing Lead for the Management of Sexual Offenders and Violent Offenders, added: “Protecting the public from sexual and violent offenders is a key role for the police service.
“A large proportion of the recorded wanted or missing sex offenders are, following investigation, either known or believed to be living abroad or have returned to their country of origin. When registered sexual offenders (RSO’s) are missing or wanted in the UK, all police forces are alerted. If they return to the UK, there are several processes in place to ensure that they are brought to the attention of police and arrested where appropriate.
“The UK has some of the most effective tools in the world to manage RSO’s. While the reality is that the risks posed to the public by such individuals can never be completely eliminated, there is significant evidence that the multi-agency public protection arrangements (MAPPA) successfully keeps them to a minimum.
“The new Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPO) and Sexual Risk Orders (SRO) mean that, for the first time, we can safeguard children or vulnerable adults abroad as well as in the UK. “Along with the Shengen information system (SIS II) these will significantly enhance the existing procedures and processes we have in place.”
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