MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — Lack of resources to monitor registered sex offenders properly is the most likely reason behind the fact that almost 400 rapists are missing in the United Kingdom, the Kidscape charity committed to protecting children from harm and abuse, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
The location of 396 sex abusers in the United Kingdom is currently unknown, British media reported on Tuesday, citing data obtained by a Freedom of Information request by police forces. Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) is the governmental umbrella agency responsible for the management of registered sex offenders.
"One theory is that probably there is a resource problem. It is very, very expensive to have that sort of support structure around a registered sex offender. You need a lot of supervision. In many areas there are not enough police, social workers or probation officers to give them the sort of support that they require," Claude Knights, CEO at Kidscape, told Sputnik.
"That umbrella group should be able to monitor them. That should be working, and in some cases it does work, but with 400 offenders missing something is not right," Knights said. She added that the Home Office, however, claims that Britain has some of the toughest regulations in the world to deal with sex offenders.
Currently, educating children about possible risks and safe strategies is of utmost importance, Kidscape emphasized.
Children should know what kinds of behavior in adults is unacceptable, as sex offenders are masters of manipulation, and most abuse is committed by people who the children already know, such as family friends.
Britain's National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) also called the number of missing offenders alarming. The NSPCC claimed that in England and Wales only one law enforcement employee is responsible for as many as 50 registered sex offenders, as the freedom of information request revealed.
