Friday December 29, 2006
Child sex offender details posted on Most Wanted website
Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre posts its sixth most wanted convicted offender after 4 of first 5 offenders are located
www.ceop.gov.uk/wanted - has already enabled the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre to locate 4 of the UK’s most wanted convicted child sex offenders. Now it is posting details of a sixth offender to continue its success.
People are now being asked to support the search for Peter WHEATHERLEY. Details of the 39 year old have been posted on the Most Wanted site.
WHEATHERLEY is sought for failing to comply with his notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. He is missing from the South Yorkshire area but is known to have links across the North of England. Intelligence also suggests that WHEATHERLEY could be in Spain, or elsewhere in Europe.
So far, ‘Most Wanted’ has proved to be a massively successful tool for locating missing offenders,
explains the CEOP Centre’s Chief Executive, Jim Gamble.
Recently this website prompted a public sighting which led to the arrest of Paul Francis Turner in Northern France. He was our fourth convicted offender to be located since we launched the service in November.
That means 4 of the UK’s most serious convicted child sex offenders have been located within weeks of this website going live.
So our message is clear. Child sex offenders will be caught. There will be no hiding place. Children everywhere need to be protected from this horrific crime and we will do all we can to meet that objective.
WHEATHERLEY is new to our site. I’d ask people to take a look at him and if they have suspicions about his whereabouts to report them directly to the local police force or anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre continues to appeal for information about its fifth outstanding offender, Joshua Karney.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
Members of the public can safely help locate ‘missing’ offenders by viewing photos and descriptions via the CEOP and Crimestoppers websites. If they recognise someone they are urged to contact their local police force, or if they wish to remain anonymous they can call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
The initiative to publish details of some of the UK’s child sex offenders forms a key element of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre’s approach to tracking and bringing child sex offenders to account. All individuals published on the site have previously been convicted for an offence for which they have already served punishment within the criminal justice system. They are sought because they have subsequently failed to fulfil their requirements as part of their placement on the Sex Offenders Register.
Details of previous offences will not be disclosed to the media for the reasons stated above.
Photographs of offenders will only be published with the consent of the local police force. Individual forces are under no obligation to publish their offenders on the Most Wanted site. Further offenders will be considered for inclusion on the ‘Most Wanted’ site in consultation with local police forces.
The decision to publish the details of all offenders detailed on the site has been risk assessed by the CEOP Centre and relevant local forces.
The CEOP Centre works in both online and offline environments to protect children from sexual exploitation. Full information on all areas of work as well as online safety messages and access to online reporting can be found at www.ceop.gov.uk.
The organisation is affiliated to the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and powers are derived from the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005. It is based in Pimlico, London with developing outreach channels to all areas of both domestic and international policing as well as industry and specialist support and educational faculties.
For further information contact:
Clive Michel / Sarah Shakespeare
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre
0800 000 3434