THE number of sex offenders living in communities across Scotland has been revealed in new figures from the police.
The fresh stats, which cover up to November 30, show there are a total 4,490 registered sex offenders (RSOs) living throughout the country.
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The numbers also revealed that over 1,588 sex offenders are either in hospital or in custody.
Figures broken down by police division showed there are 716 registered sex offenders living in Glasgow postcode and over 547 in neighbouring Lanarkshire.
There are also 365 in Scotland’s capital city Edinburgh.
Police Scotland also released a breakdown of which postcode areas had the highest number of offenders living there.
The force’s stats showed ML1 in Motherwell at the top of the list, with 65 offenders living in the community.
AB24 in Aberdeen showed the second highest amount with 54 offenders.
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This was followed by ML2, covering Wishaw and parts of Motherwell, with 53.
Perth (PH1), the KY8 area of Fife, covering Leven, Methil and surrounding villages, and the KY11 area which covers Inverkeithing, Rosyth, Dalgety Bay, North Queensferry, and Pitcorthie, all housed 47 sex offenders.
The G13 area of Glasgow, which was ninth in the list, had the city’s highest number of sex offenders with the total sitting at 46.
This was matched by G81, which covers Dunbartonshire and some surrounding areas, and KY12 in Fife.
EH7 and EH54 carried Edinburgh‘s highest, with 44 offenders each.
Cops revealed they are hunting 15 wanted sex offenders, but enquiries show 13 of these have left the UK.
No registered sex offenders in Scotland are currently listed as missing by cops.
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Wanted sex offenders are defined as those who are subject to requirements of the Sexual Offences Act and who have a live warrant.
Police Scotland have reassured members of the public they have measures in place to minimise the chance of an RSO re-offending, and that the rate of sexual re-offending remains extremely low.
A statement from the force said: “Protecting the public is a priority for Police Scotland.
“While we can never eliminate risk entirely, we want to reassure communities that all reasonable steps are being taken to protect them.
“We put in place measures to minimise the likelihood of further sexual re-offending by Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) and would seek to re-assure people that sexual re-offending rates remain extremely low.
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“RSOs are robustly managed by the police and our partners through the Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA), and subject to comprehensive risk assessment and risk management in the community.
“Police Scotland has units of dedicated officers specially trained for this task.”
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