South Yorkshire sex offender numbers up

THE number of sex offenders under supervision in South Yorkshire increased by five per cent to 861 over the past year—185 of them in Rotherham.

There were 305 registered sex offenders in Sheffield by the end of March, 185 in Rotherham, 128 in Barnsley and 243 in Doncaster.

A total of 29 sex offenders and violent criminals in South Yorkshire were returned to prison last year after breaching licences.

One of them was one of the country's so-called "critical few"—who are assessed as having the highest risk of harming the public and are under the strictest monitoring.

Freed violent criminals and sex offenders who "pose a risk of serious harm" are monitored under the so-called Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements, or MAPPA.

They receive one of three levels of supervision. Level one is management by the police, probation service or other agencies, level two is for high or very high risk offenders supervised by more than one agency and level three are those critical few under the strictest monitoring by panels of experts.

A total of 861 sex offenders were under MAPPA arrangements in South Yorkshire on March 31 this year, up five per cent on the previous year.

Of these, 14 sex offenders and 15 violent offenders were returned to prison for breaching their licences in 2008/09.

Another 16 sex offenders who had a registration requirement were either cautioned or convicted of failing to register.

One dangerous offender under level two supervision was charged with a serious sexual or violent offence.

South Yorkshire chief probation officer Roz Brown said: "Through the proactive management of offenders we have been successful in reducing the risk of harm to the public while the robust enforcement of licence conditions and orders has reduced the risk of reoffending."

Police say they have invested in MAPPA to ensure that trained and skilled resources are devoted to a sensitive and complex area of policing.

Concerns have been raised that the increase in supervised sex offenders is putting extra pressure on police.