42% rise in registered sex offenders sees number top 50,000 for first time

The number of registered sex offenders living in the community has passed 50,000 for the first time, new figures reveal.

Rapists and paedophiles were among 52,770 individuals being managed by authorities at the end of March – a jump of more than 15,000, or 42%, in five years.

Over the same period, the number of violent criminals being supervised increased by 30%.

There are now 104 registered sex offenders per 100,000 of population in England and Wales in 2015/16 – equivalent to one in every 1,000 people.

Increases in the volume of alleged sex crimes recorded by police have been seen in recent years in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal and a number of high-profile investigations.

Rises have also been seen in the number people being convicted of sexual offences.

The new statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), relate to those who are subject to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (Mappa).

Under the system authorities are tasked with assessing and managing the risk posed by sexual and violent criminals.

As of the end of March, there were 71,905 offenders subject to the arrangements, with nearly three in four of those registered sexual offenders. Violent criminals accounted for 18,847 of the number, while a further 288 were in a third category covering “other dangerous offenders”.

The total number of Mappa-eligible offenders was an increase of 5% compared to March 2015.

The MoJ report said the increase in the number of registered sex offenders is “influenced by sentencing trends, in which the number of people convicted of sexual offences is increasing”.

It went on: “Additionally, many sexual offenders are required to register for long periods of time, with some registering for life. This has a cumulative effect on the total number of offenders required to register at any one time.”

The number of offenders charged with a serious further crime while under Mappa fell to 193 in 2015/16 from 222 in the previous year.

Separate figures showed there were 12,771 sentenced sex offenders in the prison population at the end of September – a rise of nearly a tenth over the year.

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