Hundreds of registered sex offenders in Scotland have changed their names
dailyrecord.co.ukHundreds of sex offenders changed their names in the past two years.Police Scotland have received 392 notices of the criminals – including paedophiles – taking on new identities since 2022.
Sex offenders must notify the police about any name change but they are not prohibited from changing their names.A freedom of information request found Scotland’s police force was notified 241 times of sex offenders changing their names in 2022-23, with 151 the following year.Scottish Tory justice spokesman Russell Findlay said changing their name has allowed sex offenders to “hide in plain sight”.He said: “Hundreds more registered sex offenders in Scotland have been legally able to change their names.
People who they meet in daily life, especially those they have relationships with, are deprived of knowing who they really are.“Being placed on the sex offenders register is not done lightly and it is clearly wrong for them to be able to hide in plain sight in this way.
Having first called on SNP ministers to close this dangerous loophole two years ago, nothing has happened.“The Government says that public protection measures are sufficient, but that claim is simply untrue.
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