daily Justice

Police go live with first 'most wanted' paedophile site

Photographs and details of five child sex offenders have been posted on the Internet for the first time as part of a police initiative to track down paedophiles who have disappeared.
All five men have been convicted and served sentences but have gone missing after their release from prison and are in breach of a requirement to notify the authorities of their current whereabouts.
Failure to comply with such "notification requirements" -- a condition of their inclusion on the nationwide sex offenders' register -- is an arrestable offence and carries a maximum five-year jail term.
The website -- www.ceop.gov.uk/wanted -- includes photographs, physical descriptions, additional information and a warning against vigilante action. But it does not detail the men's convictions.
The initiative, by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, is a departure for British law enforcement agencies who have shied away from publicly identifying paedophiles for fear of vigilante attacks.
Unlike the United States, British authorities do not alert the public about convicted child sex offenders living in the community, although a government review of disclosure of information on offenders is under way.
The CEOP, which said the website is not about "naming and shaming" paedophiles, is running the initiative with an FBI-style police website on the country's "most wanted" criminals.
The Crimestoppers site has had nearly 40 million "hits" and led to 24 arrests since it was launched last November.