Sex offenders missing from North Yorkshire Police

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show they are among 26 across Yorkshire who are wanted by forces because their whereabouts are unknown.

Of the forces in Yorkshire to respond to the Press Association, North Yorkshire had the fewest missing sex offenders while South Yorkshire revealed 10 were untraced in February or early March.

Humberside Police found seven were missing while West Yorkshire Police said it needed more time to respond.

Both the untraced offenders in North Yorkshire are currently living abroad however the force revealed that one had been missing for seven years while the other since late 2014.

Detective Superintendent Nigel Costello, Head of the Protecting Vulnerable Persons Unit at North Yorkshire Police, said: “We take offender management very seriously, and along with our partners, manage those under our duty of care with the utmost professionalism.

“The two convicted sex offenders highlighted in the report have both left the country, having failed to register with North Yorkshire Police – one is currently in China as he is a Chinese national, and the other we believe is in Cambodia.

“All measures and flags are in place to alert the relevant authorities.”

The missing offenders in North Yorkshire are among 396 who have gone missing from across the UK with some who had been missing for more than a decade.

Registered sex offenders are required to inform the authorities of their addresses so they can be monitored.

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.”