SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Police in Saint John, N.B., are searching for an offender who is at large after walking away from Hart House -- a halfway house on Carleton Street in the downtown core.

It's the second time an offender has failed to return to a correctional facility in the city in less than a week.

"It's very concerning," said Saint John police spokesperson Jim Hennessy. "Any time someone walks away from a facility, knowing they do have conditions that they have to abide by."

The police are looking for 39-year-old Robert Sullivan, described as five-foot-six, weighing 160 pounds with blue eyes and dark hair.

Sullivan is serving a 38-month sentence for offences that include sexual interference.

Last week, police reported 20-year-old Richard LeClair, a convicted sexual offender, didn't report back for curfew at the Parrtown Community Correctional Centre.

He has since been taken back into custody.

Saint John police say they hold bi-weekly meetings with Parrtown and the Correctional Service of Canada to talk about who will be coming to the facility.

"For the most part, it works," Hennessy says. "It's just one of those situations where, again, sometimes people don't abide by the rules and conditions that are laid down for them."

Coun. David Hickey says cutbacks at these types of facilities are creating gaps in the system, leaving some people to fall through the cracks.

"What that is in turn doing from a municipal perspective is, it's putting an additional burden on our police force, having to respond to these scenarios and putting the public at risk as well," Hickey said.

Saint John police are asking anyone with information about Sullivan's whereabouts to contact them or Crime Stoppers.