A CONVICTED sex offender who has been on the run for several months and has been living as a man and a woman featured during a national Crimewatch appeal.

Lisa Hauxwell, 48, was sentenced in her absence to 14 years in prison last year for two rapes and seven indecent assaults that took place between 2001 and 2002 in the Newton Aycliffe area.

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Hauxwell was charged with the offences in 2015 under the name Craig John Hauxwell.

Durham Police believe the 48-year-old could still be living as a man and her last known address was in the Leeds area.

Despite cross-county border investigations launched to trace Hauxwell, she has not been found by police and has not begun serving her prison sentence.

However, photographs of Hauxwell as both male and female was broadcast on Monday night’s BBC One Crimewatch programme, from 9pm, as part of the show’s “Wanted Faces” segment.

Hauxwell speaks with a stutter and was last seen on CCTV in the West Yorkshire area almost one year ago with bleached blonde, shoulder-length hair.

Detective Inspector Yvonne Dutson said: “We have carried out exhaustive enquiries to trace Lisa Hauxwell and these are continuing.

“There has been no activity on her bank account for several months, no record of any dealings with agencies such as the DWP or HMRC and no confirmed sightings of her since she was recorded on a security camera at a petrol station in Dronfield, Derbyshire, in April 2016.

“Hauxwell was convicted of two rapes and seven indecent assaults, which were truly horrendous crimes.

“We hope the appeal on Crimewatch will bring new information which ultimately will result in her being locked up and sent to prison to begin her sentence.”

Information on Hauxwell or her whereabouts can also be passed on to Durham Police by calling non-emergency number 101.