Sex offender Tai Mitchell jailed for 28 weeks after repeatedly being found with missing teenager

Tai Mitchell, a 22-year-old from Peterborough, has been sentenced to 28 weeks in prison for failing to comply with a Child Abduction Warning Notice (CAWN) and for knowingly keeping a child away from the responsible person.

Despite being handed a CAWN in January, Mitchell was repeatedly found with a missing teenager on multiple occasions. The girl was reported missing by her carers on three consecutive nights in February, and on the final occasion was found inside a tent with Mitchell at the Embankment in Peterborough city centre.

Mitchell had been placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years in February 2021 after being jailed for sexual offences against teenage children. He failed to notify police of a change of address within three days, as required by his registration.

PC Alex Neill, who investigated the case, said: "CAWNs are a way of disrupting contact between a vulnerable child and a predatory adult. We believe the girl was at risk of harm through her association and inappropriate relationship with him, repeatedly going missing from her care placement and being groomed by him."

Mitchell pleaded guilty to knowingly and without lawful authority keeping a child away from the responsible person, as well as failing to notify police of a change of address within three days. He will continue to be monitored by a specialist team after his release from prison.