Hundreds of perverts convicted of flashing have gone on to commit murder, rape and other serious sex assaults.
In the past four years 195 who were sentenced for rape already had convictions for exposing themselves. Another 171 flashers went on to carry out sexual assaults and eight perverts later killed somebody.
The Ministry of Justice statistics back up fears that “minor” sex crimes such as indecent exposure and voyeurism are not taken seriously following the murders of Sarah Everard and Libby Squire.
Sarah, 33, was kidnapped, raped and strangled by Met policeman Wayne Couzens, 48, who had been accused several times of exposing himself.
Vile Couzens was said to have flashed at a McDonald’s in 2015, and at another fast-food diner a few days before murdering Sarah in March.
Libby, 21, a student at Hull University, was killed in 2019 by butcher Pawel Relowicz, 26. He had convictions for spying on women and exposing himself in the streets near her home.
Last year police in England and Wales recorded 10,391 offences of indecent exposure or voyeurism – yet just 1,404 went to court.
Around 200 perverts were let off with a police caution or dealt with by an informal or community resolution which can involve apologising to the victim.
David Spencer, research director at the Centre for Crime Prevention, said: “The idea of minor offenders escalating to more serious crimes is nothing new but this data lays out in black and white the importance of tackling seemingly minor offences properly.
“If these offenders had received the punishment and treatment they deserved at an early stage, it is safe to say that some may not have progressed to commit the dreadful offences they subsequently did.
"When it comes to this sort of incident, there should be no such thing as a ‘minor crime’.
“These offenders need to know that punishments for such crimes are serious and that society simply will not tolerate this sort of thing.” He added: “To get that message across, it is clear that some significant reforms are needed.”
