Friday 31 August, 2007
Hunt for missing sex offender goes online
Details of 13th offender posted on Most Wanted website
The details of an offender who has been missing from the authorities for over six months have now been posted on the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre's Most Wanted website in a new bid to locate him.
Fifty-four year old Stephen John Burnell is wanted by North Yorkshire Police for failure to comply with his notification requirements on the Sex Offenders Register. He is the thirteenth offender to be posted on the website.
He is approximately 1.75m (5'9"), medium build, blue eyes and has a ruddy complexion. He has cropped receding ginger hair with a full ginger beard/moustache. He has a number of distinctive tattoos including a black panther on his left arm; a skull with a dagger behind and the words 'do or die' printed over the top on his right arm. He is described as having a nomadic lifestyle.
Jim Gamble, Chief Executive:
The Most Wanted website has proved to be successful in locating eight offenders to date who had gone missing from the authorities. We are urging the public to get involved once again to find this individual. By working together we can continue to track those offenders who try to avoid being managed by the authorities and protect our communities from harm
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre joined forces with the charity Crimestoppers to develop Most Wanted. It was launched last November as the UK's first national website dedicated to locating child sex offenders who have failed to comply with notification requirements. This is an arrestable offence, with a punishment of up to five years imprisonment.
The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre continues to appeal for information about outstanding offenders: Andrew Eden, John Murrell, Joshua Karney, Peter Wheatherley. They are sought for failing to comply with notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
Eden's last known address was in the Manchester area.
Murrell was last seen in the Worcestershire area. He is known to have links with Belfast, Aberystwyth and Blackpool.
Wheatherley is missing from the South Yorkshire area but is known to have links in the north of England. Intelligence also indicates that he could be in Spain, or elsewhere in Europe.
Karney has connections in the Lancashire area but is known to travel throughout the United Kingdom.
Further information and photographs can been found at www.ceop.gov.uk/wanted.
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 North Yorkshire Police on 0845 60 60 247, 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 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 please contact the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre Press Office on 0870 000 3434.