BELFAST, Northern Ireland, July 26 (UPI) -- A man considered a dangerous sexual predator in Britain was released from prison and not on a government sex offenders' registry, a newspaper noted Friday.
John Cronin, 42, was seen in Belfast, North Ireland, Thursday, a month after he left prison where he was serving a sentence for theft, the Belfast Telegraph said.
He has committed more than 50 crimes in 25 years, involving thefts and sex attacks, starting with a conviction for the sexual assault of a 14-year-old classmate in Scotland, the newspaper said.
Cronin gained notoriety when he was jailed for life in 1992 for the rape and beating of a woman while he was posing as a priest.
The sentence was reduced to six years and he served four, the newspaper said, adding he was not monitored by police since the attack occurred before the national Sex Offenders' Register was introduced.
Labeled "one of the most dangerous sexual predators in Britain" by psychiatrists, Cronin is not on the Sex Offenders' Register, the newspaper noted.
