Only 1 in 13 sex offenders jailed for failing lie detector test
A Sun Online Freedom of Information request shows only a minority of sex attackers found lying on government lie detector tests are returned to jail
ONLY one in 13 sex offenders have been returned to jail for failing a lie detector test, The Sun Online can reveal.
Sexual predators including paedophiles are forced to take government lie detector tests every six months as part of their licence conditions after serving a prison sentence.
Around 1,000 serious offenders are quizzed on their activities and whether they have breached rules while hooked up to the £4,000 devices.
Ministry of Justice officials carried out 2,509 tests on attackers between August 2015 and February this year.
But following a Freedom of Information request The Sun Online can reveal offenders have lied in 702 of those tests - around 28 per cent - while only 54 were recalled to jail as a result.
Questions typically relate to a sex attacker's "licence conditions and whether they have been breached" and other "risk-related behaviours" such as masturbating to offence-related fantasies.
They are often asked in groups to detect whether a sexual predator has a reaction to a specific question showing he has lied.
But critics have blasted the tests as "unreliable" and said it is "terrifying" for victims that offenders on licence are lying without being recalled to jail.
Professor Don Grubin, architect of the government scheme, has admitted lying does not mean an offender is recalled to jail - unless he separately confesses to breaching his licence conditions.
He said: "If an individual discloses information to the effect that he has breached his license conditions then he can be recalled to prison.
"Or be subject to other actions such as receiving a formal warning, be placed under curfew, or whatever, but deception in the absence of disclosure does not result in recall.
"It may trigger further investigation which can in turn result in action, it can stall plans such as a move from a hostel, or it can mean that more attention is paid to him and the issues associated with the problematic question.
"Polygraph has an error rate of 10-20%, though, which needs to be taken into account in decision making."
Serial sex attackers released from jail are subjected to the compulsory tests with around 50 taking place each month.
Notorious predator John Warboys - if ever released - would be required to undergo the lie detector tests.
Licence conditions can include curfews, exclusion zones, internet restrictions, non-contact orders and compliance with sex offender programmes.
Libido-suppressing drugs can also be prescribed to this group of offenders.
The scheme - carried out by trained probation officers - was rolled out by the government in 2014.
It was lauded by then-Justice Minister Jeremy Wright as the latest "stringent" measure to crackdown on sex offenders on licence.
The MoJ stated if offenders were "found to have been covering up inappropriate behaviour, they are likely to be recalled to prison."
But Neil Henderson, CEO of sexual abuse charity Safeline, said: "If sex offenders are released and lying it causes us a great deal of concern, and particularly the survivors.
"It causes massive distress if these people are lying and not meeting their conditions.
"We are really concerned about the rigour around these tests, from the examples we know, and it raises questions about whether they should be back in public.
"It undermines faith amongst survivors as well and comes on top of Worboys. They still feel at risk.
"Listening to those figures it seems a highly unreliable way to manage perpetrators of sexual abuse. It is absolutely frightening - you have to call into question why we are using it."
Within days of The Sun Online's FOI request the MoJ separately released figures which stated 166 offenders had been returned to jail since the tests began in August 2014.
But this figure is understood to include offenders who had been recalled due to follow-up enquiries after testing - while still a small number of the total found to have lied.
Details show offenders sent back behind bars last year included those convicted of child sex offences, child grooming, rape and child pornography offences.
One case heard how an offender who was released on condition they didn't use the internet was found by the test to be lying about not having logged on since his release.
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Police then raided his home and found indecent images of children, which were downloaded from the internet, stored on hard drives hidden at his address.
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: "Polygraph testing is mandatory for high-risk sex offenders and, as these figures show, they play an vital role in monitoring their behaviour.
“If an offender fails a test, they will face further investigation by probation staff which may lead to them being returned to custody.
“All sex offenders face strict licence conditions, and know that they risk being returned to prison or facing further punishment if they break them.”