Monster Madness

RAPISTS and paedophiles are being fast-tracked off the sex offenders register because of “dangerous” loopholes in the law.

Our probe uncovered a raft of cases where predators are dumped back on the streets rather than jailed — then spend as little as a few months on the monitoring list.

In one, a fiend who raped a schoolgirl of 12 struck again after a sheriff let him off with a community payback order.

Another beast spent less than two years on the list because cops were legally obliged to delete his details. And a third sex attacker was on the register for just 69 days.

Margaret-Ann Cummings, 43 — whose son Mark, eight, was murdered by serial sex beast Stuart Leggate, 43, in Royston, Glasgow, in 2004 — called our findings “disturbing”.

She added: “It’s an outrage that anyone convicted of rape should simply be put back on the streets instead of behind bars.

“These mistakes are then compounded because soft sentences are leading on to light-touch supervision and a fast track off the register.

“How can someone capable of raping a child be considered safe enough to drop off the register in less than two years?

“The soft approach has already led to another child being traumatised and it will keep on happening until the authorities get a grip.”

Jailed perverts have to notify cops of their whereabouts for at least seven years after release.

More serious offenders can be on the register for life with a review every 15 years. But if a judge lets them off with a community payback order, Police Scotland has to delete their details within 36 months — sometimes less.

Jailed under-18s have their time on the register halved.

Our investigation found hundreds of perverts have dropped off the register in the last two years — including more than 400 guilty of child abuse image offences.

A 59-page dossier released to us under Freedom of Information laws gives each crime, conviction date and year in which their allocated time ran out or when they were deemed “no longer a risk”. We also uncovered a 2016 report showing how a Tayside teen got a three-year payback order for raping a child — then targeted a girl of 13.

Nats unveiled plans to axe jail terms of up to a year — pushing hundreds more sex offenders on to payback orders and getting them off the register faster.

Tory MSP Liam Kerr said: “The SNP’s soft-touch justice has opened a dangerous loophole that must be closed immediately.

“It’s not just a total failure to punish a criminal, it could seriously risk the safety of our children.” The Judiciary of Scotland said: “The presiding judge takes into account the offence, circumstances of the case and circumstances of all involved.”

The Scottish Government added: “The vast majority of rape convictions result in a custodial sentence. The average jail term for rape and attempted rape is at its highest level in the last ten years.”

A Police Scotland spokesman said: “We work with a number of agencies to ensure all registered sex offenders are robustly managed within the community.”

But campaigner Marisa Keegan has slammed the system for “putting criminals’ careers before our children’s welfare”.

She started a petition after Christopher Daniel, 18, of Glasgow, wasn’t put on the register despite sex assaults on a girl aged six.