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More than a dozen child rapists have avoided prosecution – by simply saying sorry.

Fourteen sex offenders dodged the courts AFTER admitting their guilt by apologising to their young victims – all aged under 13.

Astonishingly, they were all dealt with by way of a community resolution – originally designed to dispose of minor offences and yob behaviour, the Birmingham Mail reports.

In the West Midlands, resolutions were also used on 14 people who committed GBH with intent, two caught with a knife on school premises and on 86 who willfully neglected a child.

The Ministry of Justice’s website said community resolutions were only used where there had been an admission of guilt and the victim’s views taken into account.

The MoJ said offenders received “advice about their behaviour”, gave a “verbal or written apology to the victim” and, in some cases, agreed to pay compensation.

But it's also been revealed that almost 30,000 offenders were dealt with through community resolutions in the West Midlands over the last three years.

The total included a string of other serious offenders – such as 17 stalkers and seven people caught carrying guns in public.

A care worker who caused a mental health patient to engage in sexual activity was also dealt with by way of a resolution.

West Midlands Police decides which offences are suitable for disposal through community resolutions, with the agreement of the victim and the perpetrator.

The force stressed “enhanced authority” was always sought from an inspector or an officer of higher rank when decisions on how to deal with serious offences were taken.

But, in a lengthy statement, it admitted that cost effectiveness also played a part in the process.

Shadow Policing Minister and Labour MP Jack Dromey said he was “at a complete loss” to see how resolutions could be used to deal with offences like rape and GBH.

“Community resolutions can be very effective in tackling wrongdoing and reducing re-offending but they should never be used for serious crime,” he said.

“The Home Secretary promised to crack down on serious and violent crime.

“Now we know many of those accused of serious wrongdoing are not being brought before the courts.

“How can it be right that those guilty of grievous bodily harm, possession of offensive weapons and even rape are not facing the full force of the law?”

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Chief Insp Karl Fellows defended West Midlands Police’s use of community resolutions.

He said: “The community resolution process is ’victim led’ in that it must be how the person wants their crime dealt with.

“The offender must also admit their crime and agree to the conditions of the resolution.

“Many people simply don’t want to drag their crime through the formal criminal justice system but prefer a quick resolution, perhaps in the form of compensation or an apology from the offender, or both.

“In the vast majority of cases, the community resolution is the most common sense and cost effective way of having a crime dealt with, according to the wishes of the person.

“Community resolution supports the professional judgement of police officers to assess an offence, the wishes of the victim, and the offender’s history in order to reach an outcome that best meets the interests of the victim and of the public.

“No offence is excluded from the resolution process, however all more serious offences require ‘enhanced authority’ from an inspector or above.

“The decision is then further reviewed by the Force Crime Register’s Audit and Compliance Team.

“Although an incident may be correctly recorded as a serious offence, the individual circumstances may be relatively low level.

“The circumstances are thoroughly investigated and reviewed before a community resolution is agreed upon.

“Importantly it is also proportionate in terms of the amount of police time invested in the investigation and removes a vast amount of bureaucracy from the process, allowing police to focus more time and effort on more serious cases.

“Overwhelmingly, the feedback we continue to get from the public around the use of community resolutions is extremely positive.”