Sex offenders in Britain are disappearing off the registry in the hundreds because they are changing their names.

So far, 913 convicted sex offenders have been found to have disappeared off the sex offenders registry, and there are concerns thousands more might have taken a similar step.

The Consequences Could Be Dire

So far, just 16 out of 46 police departments have been investigated. So, they are not even halfway through the investigation and it's already clear that nearly a thousand sex offenders are no longer in the registry.

The dangers of having all these criminals fly under the radar could be quite serious.

A Lot Of Them Didn't Tell The Authorities About The Name Changes

There is nothing wrong with changing your name in the UK, even if you are a criminal. However, offenders are not allowed to change their names and not tell the authorities about it, which is what seems to have happened here.

In fact, not even one of these 913 criminals bothered to inform the police about their name changes. So, it's like they have completely gone missing.

Fortunately, 1,349 of offenders who changed their names told the police about it.

The Public Can't Look Up The Offenders Due To The Name Changes

It's true that sex offenders have a right to privacy. Still, the public has the right to know where these people live in their area to be more careful of them.

Unfortunately, when these offenders change their names, it's no longer possible to look them up. That is a terrifying reality at the moment.

Many Are Repeat Offenders

It turns out that many of the sex offenders who changed their names and decided against telling the police about it went on to repeat their crimes.

In one case, a man called Terry Price changed his name more than five times in a period of five years and committed several offenses during that time.

This was discovered when a woman reported his crimes and it was discovered what he was up to.

Why Is This Allowed To Happen?

While commenting on Terry's case, Della Wright had this to say:

"We don't know but we know he's a prolific offender. It makes me really angry and it shouldn't be possible. This person has been through the system not once but countless times – and even as recently as 2016 he was allowed to change his name again whilst in prison."

It's Not Just Names The Offenders Can Change, But Passports And Driving Licenses As Well

After the sex offenders change their names, they are allowed to get new licenses and passports using their new identities.

In other words, these people are allowed to have new lives and forget about their past crimes. Fortunately, many people are concerned about this, and authorities insist they are working towards a solution.

It is certainly disheartening to learn that there are thousands of sex offenders living in society under completely new identities. The British authorities certainly need to fix this problem to keep the public safe and ensure these offenders have reduced chances of repeating their offenses.