Manhunt launched for paedophile posing 'significant risk to children' on the run from prison

26 March 2025, 16:19 | Updated: 26 March 2025, 16:20

A paedophile posing a "significant risk to children" is on the run from prison after failing to attend a sentencing hearing.

Nalika Ranasinghe, 55, exchanged more than 1,200 messages with an online child activist group that he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

The paedophile first contacted the ‘girl’ in February of 2023, unaware it was a decoy account.

The ‘child’ told Ranasinghe she was only 14 years old from the start, but he proceeded to turn conversations sexual and encouraged her to engage in sexual acts both by herself and with her 12-year-old cousin.

Ranasinghe also planned to meet the "child", telling her “I will touch you one day if you let me.”

He was jailed for six-and-a-half years at a sentencing hearing he failed to attend last week.

Now, police are appealing for his whereabouts as the criminal remains at large.

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Detective Sergeant Mike Paget said: “Ranasinghe was extremely persistent in his pursuit of sexual gratification from this ‘child’, who continually tried to reject his advances.

“He poses a significant risk to children, which is reflected in the sentence, and we are keen to arrest him as soon as possible so he goes to prison.

“I would urge anyone who knows of his whereabouts to contact police straight away.”

When he was first arrested, Ranasinghe admitted to sending the messages but claimed that he knew he was speaking to an adult man, not a 14-year-old girl.

He was released on bail after being found guilty of two counts of attempting to engage in sexual communication with a child, and two counts of attempting to cause a child to engage in sexual activity.