New figures show there was a 30 percent increase in the number of sex crimes recorded in the Roscommon/Longford Garda Division last year.
However, according to the Central Statistics Offices updated crime figures, burglaries fell by almost 33 percent in Sligo/Leitrim.
A total of 51 sexual crimes were recorded on the Garda Pulse system in Roscommon/Longford in 2016, with 27 sexual offences and 24 rapes or sexual assaults.
All of these up the 2015 rate in the division, when the total number was 39.
The chairman of the Longford Joint Policing Committee, Gerry Warnock, is calling for action to combat the problem.
A total of 73 sexual offences, rapes or sexual assaults were recorded in Sligo/Leitrim last year, down seven from 2015.
There was also a sharp fall in burglaries in the division, with 218 recorded in 2016, down by 33 per cent on the 325 recorded in 2015.
Burglaries fell marginally in the Roscommon/Longford division, from 384 to 383 in the same time frame.
