MORE than 1,500 sex offenders who were spared jail when first convicted have gone on to commit similar crimes over the past five years.
They have been involved in rapes, sexual assaults and child abuse since being reprieved by the courts.
There have been 1,507 offenders, who did not go to jail for their first offence, being sentenced for a sex crime.
In the past year, the figure was 264 – including 22 who were later sentenced for rape and 56 for sexual assaults.
Another 69 were convicted for child abuse, five for voyeurism and 66 for indecent exposure.