Nearly 1,700 sex offenders carried out similar crimes after being spared jail time

New figures have shown that almost 1,700 sex offenders who were spared jail time when first convicted, later carried out similar crimes.

Adults as well as children were amongst victims of rape and sexual assault.

The numbers reached 1,688 in the four year period of 2016 to 2020.

Among these was Rhys Miller-Offiong 24, who used fake Facebook profiles to trick his victims into send nude photos of themselves.

He was handed a suspended sentence for sexually grooming a girl under the age of 16. He then raped a woman.

David Spencer from the Centre for Crime Prevention, told The Sun: “With sex attacks, non-custodial sentences should be the exception and not, as seems to be the case, increasingly the norm."