Sex offenders missing in London

More than 100 sex offenders are missing in London, the BBC can reveal.

Following a Freedom of Information (FoI) request, the Metropolitan Police said 112 registered sex offenders were "currently recorded missing".

Their offences may range from indecent assaults to serious child abuse, BBC London was told.

The Met said most sex offenders were found within two weeks of going missing while "every effort" was made to find those who did not make contact.

'Very disturbing'

But the force insisted there would be an automatic heightened risk until they were located.

Claude Knights, from the national children's charity Kidscape, "It is, I think, very very disturbing to know that there are over 100 sex offenders out there, loose and we don't know where they are."

But the Met said missing sex offenders had not all necessarily gone underground.

They may simply have moved house and forgotten to tell the authorities of their new address.

"I think the public can be assured that as soon as someone goes missing we take every step to find them," said Commander Mark Simmonds.

"The vast majority are missing only for a period of between seven and 10 days and we know a significant number of those are abroad."

There are 3,700 sex offenders registered in London.

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