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One of the men who killed James Bulger has signed up for an online dating site.

Jon Venables was just 10 years old when he killed toddler James Bulger. Now under a new name, he is seeking out women through an online dating site.

It’s a crime that no one could forget – the murder of two-year-old James Bulger in 1993.

The names of the two young boys who lured him to his death and killed him, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, etched on our minds forever. Their actions changed the way we thought about children and crime.

James Bulger

Thomson was 11 and Venables just 10 when they tortured and beat the toddler to death.

It destroyed the belief that many of us had about the innocence of children.

So the thought that one of these killers might be someone an unknowing and vulnerable woman could get involved with is chilling, and yet a reality.

The British newspaper, The Mirror has revealed that one of the convicted killers of James Bulger, Jon Venables – now aged 32 – has uploaded his profile to a dating site, searching out love and companionship.

The site, which isn’t named for legal reasons, invites women to contact him online.

Jon Venables

Under a new name which cannot be reported due to a lifelong anonymity order, Venables claims his best quality is his sense of humour. In 2001 Venables was granted a new identity after he was released having served eight years for his part in murdering James Bulger in 1993.

The Mirror reports that in his online profile he says he loves music and the UK football club Everton.

According to the reports women who contact Venables through the site would have no idea that they were getting involved with one of the UK’s most notorious criminals.

It is a frightening thought and one the woman whose child Venables killed is greatly concerned about.

The mother of James Bulger, Denise Fergus, told The Daily Mail “It’s quite disgusting that a child murderer and paedophile can have access to online dating websites.”

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“I feel so sorry for the girls and women who do not know who they’re chatting to. He’s capable of anything.

“Who’s to say that he’s not prowling the internet, looking for mothers and targeting their children? That’s the most frightening thing.”

The chilling images of James Bulger being led away

It is not the first time that Venables has made contact with women through the internet. In 2007 a single mother says she was “groomed” by the killer after he established a Facebook friendship with her.

Sarah Finn, 36, spent nearly a year exchanging messages and texts with Jon Venables. She had a 10-year-old son at the time, and ended the relationship after he sent her a picture of his genitals.

She said at the time “It’s chilling to think our relationship could have gone further and I may possibly have introduced him to my son who was 10 – the same age he was when he killed James.

“I had moved to a new area and was looking for friendship and possibly love.

“He nearly became mine – and that terrified me.”

Venables made headline again when in 2010 he was jailed for two years after admitting downloading and distributing indecent images of children.

As part of his sentence he was banned from using a computer or the internet for five years and was be placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years upon his release.

But five years on he is once again seeking out women.

Child protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas told The Mirror “The horrific nature of James’s murder should mean that his killers should remain under constant supervision and be unable to freely roam the internet.”

“But this is not happening.”