Revealed: Number of sex offenders missing from South Yorkshire as MP issues identity change warning

A spokesperson for South Yorkshire Police confirmed a total of 10 registered sex offenders were missing from the county as of yesterday (Wednesday, March 1, 2023).

They continued: “The vast majority of these will be ‘short-term’ cases – having failed to attend a scheduled signing at a police station on a certain date.

“The small remainder are ‘longer-term’ missing/wanted individuals, who following appropriate enquiries are believed to be out of the country.”

This comes after figures obtained by the BBC Shared Data Unit through Freedom of Information requests show that a total of 24 registered sex offenders (RSOs) went missing from the South Yorkshire Police force area between April 2019 and April 2022.

The dataset shows the number of RSOs who vanished from South Yorkshire during that period consistently increased – on a year-on-year basis – with five recorded as missing between April 2019 and April 2020; eight recorded between April 2020 and April 2021; and 11 between April 2021 and April 2022.

When asked about the 24 RSOs South Yorkshire Police recorded as missing from the county between April 2019 and April 2022, the force spokesperson was keen to stress that the data provided was ‘a snapshot in time of the number of missing/wanted registered sex offenders (RSOs) in South Yorkshire on each of the three year-end dates’.

They continued: “These figures are not cumulative and can fluctuate on a daily basis.”

“Each RSO living in the community has a ‘manager’ in their local VISOR (Violent and Sex Offender Register) team, who will know them well. When an RSO is flagged as missing/wanted, their manager will begin the process of making contact and locating them. The RSO will also be circulated on PNC – a national police system – as a further tactic to help ensure their swift location.”

If someone is added to the Sex Offenders’ Register, they are required to provide certain personal details to the police, including their name and any aliases they have been known by, their current address and passport details.

Nationally, the figures provided to the BBC Shared Data Unit reveal that a total of 729 RSOs have either been recorded by police as having gone missing or were wanted for arrest in the past three financial years (April 2019 to April 2022). Of the 45 UK police forces covering the UK, 31 were able to provide the data used to compile that total.

Sarah Champion, Labour MP for Rotherham, where at least 1,400 children were the victims of sex abuse between 1997 and 2013, has branded the situation a ‘scandal,’ claiming that the key reason so many offenders have gone missing is because they have changed their names.

The figures show at least 1,457 registered sex offenders have notified police forces of name changes/aliases in the past three financial years - 21 of the 45 police forces covering the UK were able to provide those data.

“The scale of sex offenders going off the radar chills me as I believe it is immense. Clearly, the current system of notification isn't working,” she said.

“The sheer scale of breaches and sex offenders going missing is a scandal, but one the public don't know about," Ms Champion continued.

Cumbria Constabulary's Chief Constable Michelle Skeer, national lead for the management of sex offenders, said anyone could change their name but there were ‘additional legislative obligations’ for sex offenders, which were monitored closely.

The Home Office says it has “some of the toughest powers in the world to deal with sex offenders”.

The former chief of Derbyshire police, Mick Creedon, was appointed in March by then-Home Secretary Priti Patel to review the police's management of registered sex offenders.

A separate internal review was also carried out into the scale and nature of offenders changing their name. The department said ministers were considering both reports but had not published the findings.

A Home Office spokesperson said it had also strengthened its regime for managing offenders through the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.

RSOs have to visit a police station annually to comply with notification requirements, and to inform the authorities of any change to personal details.

If any of these personal details change, they must notify the police within three days or offenders can face up to five years in prison.

But critics say the law is too easy to bypass because it places the onus on offenders to report changes in their circumstances.