A FUGITIVE sex offender could use dating websites and social media to lure potential victims, police fear.

Cleveland Police are hunting missing sex offender, 41-year-old Geoffrey Mark Ball, who was released from Holme House Prison in Stockton on May 15 but has not registered his whereabouts.

Police are warning the public not to approach him as he has a history of violence and to call 999 if they spot him.

He was last seen in a Redcar pub on the evening of Saturday, May 19, when his appearance was described as “unkempt” by a member of the public.

Police believe he could be sleeping rough or sofa surfing at friends’ homes.

He is in breach of rules which require sex offenders to register with police within three days of changing addresses.

Ball was convicted of an indecent assault on a female over 16 in 1989 and sentenced to six months in prison. He was jailed in 2010 for sexual assault on an adult woman and placed on the Sex Offenders Register until 2017. He also has convictions for violence, including a four-year jail term for grievous bodily harm in 2006, and has a history of fraud and deception offences.

He is known to use social media and dating websites, and police said while they had no direct evidence that Ball had a history of luring victims this way, they believed it was possible.

Detective Inspector Kath Barber, of Cleveland Police’s Public Protection Unit, said: “I am concerned that he may be trying to make contacts with people that he doesn’t know, especially women, via social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and dating websites. We would say be very careful when communicating with someone you don’t know online.”

He has a previous conviction for failing to register and could face another prison sentence if he is caught and convicted again.

Ball, originally from Newport, Gwent, has lived in different parts of the UK and police said they were liaising with other forces to trace him. Although he has no family in Redcar he has lived there since 2011 and is known to visit betting shops and pubs in the town.

DI Barber said the public appeal had been issued because it was unusual for Cleveland Police to lose track of a sex offender.

“My officers are very proactive in ensuring we know the whereabouts of sex offenders in the Cleveland area. Unfortunately in this case our inquiries have not led us to him,” she said.