Figures show that there were 28 sex offenders in the prison on 16 June, representing nearly 18.3 per cent of the inmate population.
On the same day in 2010, the total stood at 17, with just over ten per cent of inmates falling into the sex offender category. Since then, both the number and percentage of convicted sexual offenders and those on remand for sexual offences has risen each year.
By 16 June 2013, the level was at 14.7 per cent and on the same date the following year it had risen to 17.8 per cent.
The figures show that Jersey is mirroring a trend being seen in UK prisons. Recent Ministry of Justice statistics show that the proportion of sex offenders in UK jails had reached a record level, with the total having almost doubled in 15 years.
According to the data, the number of adult convicted sex offenders in jails is just over 11,500, making up 17 per cent of the sentenced population, compared with ten per cent in 2000.
La Moye Governor Bill Millar put the rise down to ‘a significant shift’ in the attitude of the public in reporting sexual crimes and greater numbers of people being brought to court for downloading indecent images of children.
‘The whole awareness of the general public about sexual offending has evolved in recent years, and victims are much more willing to come forward,’ he said.
‘Computer crime is more prevalent than it has been before and there are far more people being prosecuted for downloading indecent images of children than there was 15 to 20 years ago.
Mr Millar added: ‘Crimes that were committed a long time ago are being revisited and prosecuted. It is interesting because the number of inmates at La Moye has gone down over the years, but year on year we are seeing a slight increase in the total number of sex offenders.’
The release of Jersey’s figures comes after 33-year-old Robert Norman was last month jailed for four and a half years after he was found guilty of committing 13 offences on a young girl when he was a teenager.
Earlier this year, Joao Santos (46) was jailed for seven years following a cold case review into historical sexual offences and 20-year-old Duarte Correia was jailed for five years after being found guilty of attempted rape.
