Sex offenders who complete group therapy in jail are more likely to commit similar crimes, review finds

SEX offenders who complete group therapy in jail are more likely to commit similar crimes, a Ministry of Justice review found.

The study warned that shared rehabilitation sessions could let perverts swap contacts and sources or “normalise” criminal behaviour.

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Ten per cent who finished the prison-based core sex offender treatment programme (SOTP) committed at least one sexual offence during the review period — an average eight years.

That compared with eight per cent who reoffended but did not receive the treatment.

Paedophiles inside for having explicit images of kids had a reoffending rate of  4.4 per cent after SOTP.

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The rate was 2.9 per cent for those who did not go on the 180-hour course.

The study, which looked at 2,562 sex offenders on SOTP and 13,219 untreated  inmates, recommended they receive individual as well as group sessions.

The core SOTP, in use since 1992, was replaced in March, along with an extended one for higher risk offenders.

A Prison Service spokesman said: “We keep treatment programmes under constant review.”