9 hours ago
Child sex offenders' ethnicity still goes unrecorded
The number of criminals committing child sexual offences whose ethnicity is not being recorded has risen fourfold despite warnings it will fuel another crisis, The Times has found.
Ministry of Justice data analysed by this newspaper has revealed that last year, more than 1,000 offenders who were sentenced for child sex offences did not have their ethnicities recorded. This compares to 248 in 2017, the earliest figures available.
The child sexual exploitation and abuse report by Baroness Casey of Blackstock found that recording the ethnicity of perpetrators was 'shied away' from and that organisations were scared of appearing racist.
According to Ministry of Justice data, for the offence of sexual activity with a child under 16 there has been an increase in the number of criminals whose ethnicity is not recorded from 18 per cent in 2017 to 32 per cent in last year.
