February 07, 2013 11:42
An internal probe has revealed that police do not have proper records for 252 convicted sex offenders whose personal information need to be registered. They have no idea where 54 of them are, while the other 198 registered false addresses or failed to inform authorities that they moved.
The National Police Agency on Wednesday said it checked the records of 5,387 convicted sex offenders across the nation from Jan. 21 until the beginning of this month. It issued fugitive warrants for the 54 who are missing and booked the other 198 on charges of providing false information.
Police hope to track down the 54 by interviewing family members and others close to them.
Under current law, convicted sex offenders who are released from prison must submit their own photos to police. The latest probe reveals that 91 of the offenders failed to do so within a year.
The government has now revised regulations so that offenders must visit a nearby police station to have their photo taken, but the law only goes into effect in June.
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