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Thousands of paedophiles and rapists have successfully applied to be removed from the sex offenders register since 2019, prompting calls for a comprehensive overhaul of the system.
Campaigners have described the findings, which show a 75 per cent success rate for applicants to be taken off the register, as alarming and claim the system is prioritising offenders over victims.
New figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests by The Independent show at least 1,998 sex offenders in England and Wales have had their applications approved by police forces since 2019. This equates to three quarters of the 2,664 offenders who submitted applications to the 30 forces that provided data.
Among those who had their details taken off the register were offenders convicted of at least 471 paedophilia-related crimes, including child rape, incest and sexual assault.
Laura Stewart is among those calling for reform after she found out last year that the man who abused her as a child had been removed from the register and was living nearby. She was sexually abused from the age of 11, with the assaults growing more severe throughout the years.
Her case highlights the dangers of a system that allows offenders to disappear from official monitoring without adequate safeguards.
Under current legislation, after someone is convicted or cautioned in relation to a sexual offence, they are added to the sex offenders register, meaning they are required to notify police of their name, date of birth and home address.
Offenders must also notify officers of any intended travel and at least once a year confirm their details are still correct by visiting a police station.
If they are sentenced to more than 30 months in prison, they remain on the list indefinitely. However, the system was changed in 2011 after two sex offenders claimed it was unfair to be kept on the register indefinitely as it infringed on their human rights.
As a result, offenders placed indefinitely on the register can apply to be taken off after 15 years.
When considering an application, officers look at a number of factors including the seriousness of the offence, how long ago it was committed, the age difference between perpetrator and victim and any subsequent convictions.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Sex offenders will never be removed from the register if they continue to pose a risk to society after the 15-year minimum duration has passed.
“Any review is carried out by police and a thorough individual risk assessment of each offender will take place before they are considered for removal.”
However, Emily Konstantas, CEO of the Safeguarding Alliance, said that the high number of approved applications suggested that the system might not be “fit for purpose.”
She called for urgent reform, arguing that the process of removal lacks sufficient safeguards in a system in which there should be “no room for error”.
“Sex offenders are placed on the register for serious reasons. The process that allows them to be removed is not robust enough, and the entire system is in need of reform,” she told The Independent.
“The process needs clearer definitions of how risk is assessed if 75 per cent are being allowed to come off the register. What’s the point of the register if offenders can simply apply to have their names removed? The UK system prioritises offenders over survivors.
“Survivors cannot simply apply to stop being survivors and it is extremely traumatic for them to know there is now no authority monitoring their abuser.”
Ms Konstantas recommended more transparency with victims about the process and that formerly registered sex offenders continue to be monitored to some extent.
“There needs to be clearer reasons given on why an application was accepted. We should be able to know how they have quantified the risk of being able to come off the register and how the risk is calculated,” she said.
She also shared concerns about sex offenders being able to change their name more easily once they have been removed from the register – adding to victims’ fears that the offender is no longer being monitored by authorities.
Data from 25 of the forces broken down by year shows that applications reached their peak in 2021, with at least 466 sex offenders applying. Data from those same forces show 318 applications were approved that year.
In 2019, 411 applications were submitted and and least 318 approved, while 2020 saw at least 309 approved and 405 submitted. In 2022, 443 applications were submitted, with at least 365 approved, 2023 saw at least 202 approved with 271 applications submitted and in 2024 so far, 271 applications had been submitted with 194 applications approved.
Ms Stewart said she only found out her abuser had been removed from the register in 2023 after her mother saw him in the local area and she contacted the local police force to check his status.
The 41-year-old said: “The natural assumption is that the worst offenders are put on the register for life. Anybody who has been through any kind of crime like this would know that the thought of your perpetrator walking around freely is terrible.”
Despite abusing her as child, he was not convicted and sent to prison until 2002 but only served half of his sentence before he was released. More than 20 years after he was jailed, Ms Stewart discovered he had been removed from the sex offenders register and was living nearby.
Ms Stewart has seen her abuser in public since he was taken off the register and says the thought of people not being able to obtain information on him from the register “terrifies” her.
“My abuser could move in right next door to me and there’s nothing I can do about it. There was no warning that he could be taken off and there were not enough safeguards.
“I know you can’t lock them up forever but there has to be a better way.”
Tom Squire, from child-protection charity Lucy Faithfull Foundation, said the system broadly works well but added that there is “no room for complacency.”
“There is a story here about the system working well,” he told The Independent. “It’s a recognition that people are capable of changing their behaviour and it’s an important principle in recognising that capacity.
“If our responses are too punitive in a blanket approach, that could drive people underground which in some cases could increase harm.”
He added: “We support the principle of it in terms of people having the right to apply to come off. Likewise, we recognise that shouldn’t be an automatic right and that there is no room for complacency.
“It’s important there are checks and balances, so we can ensure these mechanisms are working well.”
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