How can it be in the interests of children's safety for the face of a convicted paedophile to be kept hidden? STEPHEN LEWIS reports.

FOR eight weeks, convicted paedophile Stephen John Burnell has been on the run, and in that time he has posed a threat to children.

Yet still The Press is unable to show you what this man looks like.

Despite a nationwide manhunt, police in North Yorkshire have so far refused to release a photograph, even though it could help bring Burnell to justice.

The 53-year-old was found guilty at the beginning of March of sexually abusing a nine-year-old girl, and sentenced to six years in prison. But he had gone on the run before being convicted, and was sentenced in his absence.

There is no reason to suspect Burnell is now in North Yorkshire. Some of his offences against the girl were committed in York, others in Hebden Bridge. Before going on the run, he was believed to be living in north west Wales.

But wherever he is, a prominent consultant psychiatrist who has worked with sex offenders told The Press today, there was little doubt that Burnell remained a threat to children.

Dr Philip Pollock, a member of the British Psychological Society and a consultant forensic clinical psychiatrist who has worked with sex offenders for 15 years, said that because Burnell absconded before being sentenced, he had not received any treatment for his deviancy.

"He provides as much of a risk today as he did at the time he committed the offences," he said.

June Briggs, the mother of York teenager Natalie Hick, who backed a successful campaign by The Press for a change in the law on child abductors after Terry Delaney tried to snatch her from a bus stop, said today it made no sense that the police would not release Burnell's photograph.

"I would not normally criticise the police, because they were terrific in Natalie's case," Mrs Briggs said. "But I just don't understand. If they are desperate to find this man, they should have released his picture. Then people will be on the lookout and they will be able to catch him quicker.

"While he's out there, he can do whatever he wants - and people don't know what he looks like.

"We know a name, but that can be easily changed. They need to have his photo out and let people see what he looks like."

Mrs Briggs added she would be surprised if the family of Briggs' victim did not also want the photograph released. "I would want him caught," she said.

The police today were sticking to a statement released on Friday.

Spokesman Ron Johnson said: "Before releasing a photograph we are obliged to carry out a detailed risk assessment, which must include, and take into account, the family of the victim. That situation has not changed."

A spokeswoman for ACPO, the Association of Chief Police Officers, said there were no hard-and-fast rules about the release by the police of photographs of wanted criminals.

There were guidelines, she said. "But it is in the end down to the individual force."

Factors that North Yorkshire Police would have to take into consideration included the wishes of the victim's family, but also whether release of a photograph would help in his capture.

"If they know where he is and he's not in Yorkshire, that could be a reason," she said today.

Kevin Booth, editor of The Press, said: "We have always said this man's photograph should be published because he is a dangerous paedophile on the run.

"He has now been at large for eight weeks with no sign of any arrest. The police must need the help of the public in order to bring him to justice.

"How can it be right in such circumstances to repeatedly refuse to release his picture and allow a potential risk to children to continue?"


Inside the mind of a paedophile

STEPHEN Burnell will be just as much of a risk to children today as he was when he sexually abused his nine-year-old victim, a top psychiatrist said today.

Because the 53-year-old went on the run before being convicted of sexually abusing the girl, he had never received any treatment for his deviant urges, said Dr Philip Pollock, a member of the British Psychological Society and a consultant forensic clinical psychiatrist who has worked with sex offenders for 15 years.

So is he likely to re-offend while on the run?

There were two possible scenarios, Dr Pollock said.

Either Burnell would be so desperate to evade capture that he would keep a very low profile. If that was the case, it was possible that he wouldn't risk offending again for fear of drawing attention to himself.

"If he did, it would be in another country, or another location - or perhaps if he had evaded capture for a while and his deviance started to override his sense of survival," Dr Pollock said.

The second scenario was much more sinister, Dr Pollock said.

"There are some individuals who, because they know at some point they will get caught, try to maximise opportunities to commit offences to satisfy their deviances."

In his dealings with paedophiles, he has encountered both types, Dr Pollock said - but thankfully, the first and less sinister scenario was by far the more likely.

Burnell, from his past history, seemed to be the type of offender who preferred to groom his victims, cajoling them and getting to know them over a period of time rather than simply dragging a child off the street, he added.


Burnell's crimes

BUILDER Stephen Burnell alienated his schoolgirl victim from her parents and sexually abused her for three years from the age of nine.

A York jury heard earlier this year how he used a camera and a camcorder several times to make child pornography featuring the York girl, and used candles and baby oil during his sexual sessions with her.

On one occasion, he tried to rape her, but it was too painful for her.

Her parents only learned of the abuse when she was sent home drunk from school and she revealed what had happened to her in the York house he rented from them and at his house in Hebden Bridge, the prosecution claimed.

Both the girl and her parents initially decided not to involve the police, but spoke out when they learned he was living with a household that included a daughter.

Burnell, 53, previously of a South Bank address and another address in York, whose latest address was given as north west Wales, went on the run after failing to attend court on one charge of attempted rape, two of making child pornography, eight of indecent assault and one of gross indecency with a child.

The trial went ahead in his absence, he was convicted unanimously of all but one of the charges, and a nationwide police hunt was launched.

At the beginning of last month, four weeks after his conviction, he was sentenced to six years in prison.