Two investigations are under way into the escape from a secure psychiatric hospital of a patient who allegedly raped a 14-year-old girl.
Darren Harkin, 20, absconded from the medium secure hospital in Pilning, near Bristol, on Saturday night.
Early on Sunday morning a girl was allegedly raped twice in Chepstow, Monmouthshire. Harkin was arrested later by police.
Magistrates remanded him in custody to appear at Newport Crown Court on February 14. He has been charged with escaping lawful custody, a burglary in Bristol and two counts of rape.
It emerged yesterday that Avon and Somerset Constabulary had been alerted to Harkin’s disappearance but had failed to issue a public warning. The force has now taken the unusual step of asking the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate its handling of the incident.
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A separate investigation is being conducted by the National Autistic Society, which runs the hospital for adult patients.
Security at the hospital, whose patients are allowed to visit public places, will be reviewed.
A spokesman for the hospital said yesterday: “On the evening of Saturday, February 2 a service-user absconded from the hospital near Bristol. The police were alerted immediately.”
“Police and internal investigations are ongoing,” the spokesman added.
The alleged attack on the teenage girl took place 25 miles (40km) from the hospital, on the other side of the Severn in Chepstow, Monmouthshire.
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David Davies, the Tory MP for Monmouth, said: “This is horrendous and I shall be writing to the hospital demanding answers.”