KNOWN Suffolk sex offenders are to be targeted as Cambridgeshire police step up the hunt for missing schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.Of the 230 registered sex offenders in the county an unknown number are flagged as having a high likelihood of reoffending.
KNOWN Suffolk sex offenders are to be targeted as Cambridgeshire police step up the hunt for missing schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman.
Of the 230 registered sex offenders in the county an unknown number are flagged as having a high likelihood of reoffending.
Essex and Suffolk sex offenders are thought to be the first to be targeted after 266 registered offenders in Cambridge.
A police spokesman said: "Cambridgeshire police have access to the national computerised system which will automatically let them know of any similar incidents including in Suffolk."
Police believe the 10-year-olds were snatched as they walked in their home town of Soham last Sunday night.
In a TV broadcast due to go out tonight Jessica's mother Sharon begged their captor: "Just give them back.
"Drop them off somewhere that is safe…It's never too late…I just want them back."
The Suffolk involvement comes as an expert today warned the possibility that Holly and Jessica have been snatched by a stranger must not be overlooked.
The girls' sensible nature and the lack of sightings of any struggle have led police to say they believe the pair were probably taken by someone they knew.
However Ray Wyre, who has worked with sex offenders for 25 years, said some offenders are more than capable of talking two youngsters into a car.
He warned that everyone in Britain should be vigilant in the hunt for Holly and Jessica.
"I can understand why the police have been stressing that the person may be local because they don't think the children would go with somebody who was a stranger," he said.
"But that is the interesting thing as far as I am concerned, that we have to start looking at other sex offenders, looking at how other people behave.
"I know people will say they have been warned about strangers but I could give you a whole set of scenarios of people who have stopped children in a vehicle and got them into that vehicle without any shouting, without any screaming, with them being totally compliant.''
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