AN MP last night demanded answers about how a rapist who was released on bail could have escaped justice.

Police said yesterday that Joseph Tsang, 31, who was found guilty of a number of sexual offences, could have fled to Hong Kong or elsewhere in south-east Asia, where he has family.

The IT worker, of Sandy Lane, Oxford, was released on bail in January by a judge at Oxford Crown Court on condition that he observed an electronically monitored curfew and surrendered his passport.

But he failed to appear for the start of his trial on Monday last week and was convicted by a jury in his absence of two counts of rape and two of sexual assault on victims under 16.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Nicola Blackwood said she would be raising “serious questions” about the case.

She added: “Tsang has been convicted of a string of serious sexual offences in which he targeted and exploited vulnerable victims.

“Now he must face the full force of the UK justice system. His attempt to flee must not succeed. His victims deserve justice and those who have information that can have information that can help give them that should come forward.”

The amateur ice skater was first convicted after a trial in January of making indecent images of children, two counts of causing or inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and three counts of sexual activity with a child.

Judge Patrick Eccles suspended sentencing Tsang until after his second trial earlier this month. He will be sentenced on September 22.

He was granted conditional bail but when the Oxford Brookes University graduate failed to turn up on the first day of his trial the judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Thames Valley Police released the information yesterday following an approach by the Oxford Mail and said the victims were “entitled to justice”.

Tsang is believed to have access to a black Suzuki Swift BV07 VEL.

Detective Chief Inspector Katy Barrow-Grint said: “If anyone knows the whereabouts of Joseph Tsang I would urge them to look inside their conscience and think about the victims who have been through a living nightmare.

Ten days before his trial Tsang posted an advert on Facebook to try to sell a gold iPhone6+, asking for a “quick sale”.

Police were unable to say last night if Tsang had surrendered his passport or when they first realised he was missing.

His last post on Facebook was August 7, while his last post on Twitter was three days earlier.

The Oxford Mail reported last year that, prior to his trial, Tsang’s bail conditions were varied and his passport temporarily returned so he could conduct a business transaction in Hong Kong.

The court banned reports of the first case because Tsang was still facing trial for rape, but we can now reveal his crimes.

In the first trial in January, for which Tsang appeared in person, his victim said he sexually abused her at his house in Oxford when she was under age in 2012.

In the latest case, the jury heard Tsang groomed another girl in 2011.

The girl said that she added Tsang as a friend on Facebook and they got to know each other.

Judge Eccles told the jury they had to decide whether Tsang was manipulating an innocent girl, or whether she had been complicit in building a romantic or sexual relationship with him.

The court was told that Tsang drove her to a hotel in Portsmouth where he raped her twice.

Tsang, who claimed to have previously worked for Oxford City Council, was found guilty in his absence of two counts of rape and two counts of sexual assault by penetration by a majority verdict.

Police describe him as 5ft 7ins tall, of slim build and clean shaven with short black hair. He is known to wear glasses and earrings in both ears.

Judicial Office spokesman Stephen Ward said that the Bail Act 1976 provides a general presumption that judges grant bail except in specific circumstances.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) could not confirm whether it had opposed Tsang’s bail when the Oxford Mail went to press.