article: A predatory convicted paedophile with an obsession with young girls has gone on the run after vanishing from a psychiatric unit. Stephen Munden, 54, described as having a 'fanatical obsession' with small girls after he targeted a toddler on a bus, has been missing since 6.15pm on Tuesday and was last seen leaving a hospital, near Hook, Hampshire. Now officers have launched a manhunt to find Munden  - who was detained under the Mental Health Act after sexually touching the three-year-old girl. A predatory convicted paedophile with an obsession with young girls has gone on the run after vanishing from a psychiatric unit. Stephen Munden, 54, (pictured with and without a beard) was last seen leaving a hospital, near Hook, Hampshire . He is described as about 5ft 8ins tall, of a heavy build, and has dark hair. Officers said they believed that Munden, who suffers from learning difficulties, may have shaved off his beard before leaving the hospital in Winchfield and have released images of him with both facial hair and a clean shave. He was detained at the private facility under a hospital order following his sentence last August for sexual offences. Munden was convicted of sexually touching a child under the age of 13. A court heard he deliberately sat near a three-year-old girl and stroked her hand with his finger - in full view of the child's mother and grandmother. Munden, formerly of Marchwood, near Southampton, denied the offence, claiming it was accidental when he appeared at Southampton Crown Court. During the sentencing David Jenkins, prosecuting, told Judge Peter Henry that the defendant had admitted ten unrelated offences of possessing or attempting to possess indecent images of children. The court heard he had been arrested after using one of the public computers at Hythe library in an attempt to download images. Mr Jenkins said children's clothes, books and dolls were found at Munden's home and added: 'He has a fanatical obsession with young girls.' A court heard he deliberately sat near a three-year-old girl and stroked her hand with his finger - in full view of the child's mother and grandmother. Munden, formerly of Marchwood, near Southampton, denied the offence, claiming it was accidental when he appeared at Southampton Crown Court . Consultant physiatrist John O'Shea said the defendant was autistic and also suffered from mild learning difficulties. He added that Munden had difficulty controlling his sexual interest in small children but the girl on the bus was probably unaware of his intentions. Keely Harvey, in mitigation, said: 'He did not accept that he deliberately touched the child's hand.' But the judge said 'the move from non-contact offences to a contact offence is significant' and he was made the subject of a hospital order. Detective Chief Inspector Tim Rowlandson said: 'We are extremely keen to hear from anyone who has seen this man since yesterday evening or knows where he might be. 'Mr Munden is subject to a hospital order after being convicted and sentenced for sexual offences and also suffers from learning difficulties, so we need to know where he is as a matter of urgency.'
highlights: Stephen Munden, 54, has absconded from hospital, near Hook, Hampshire .
  He was described as having a 'fanatical obsession' with small girls .
  Munden was convicted of sexually touching a child under the age of 13 .
  The sex offender may have shaved off his thick beard, police say .
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