Vic sex offender escapee back behind bars

A convicted sex offender is back behind bars after he slipped out of a Victorian minimum security prison and spent more than 24-hours on the run.

Barry Dettman, 51, was caught on Monday night after he fled the Langi Kal Kal Prison in Trawalla at 10am on Sunday, police confirmed.

Police swooped on Nightingale Drive in Werribee about 5pm after a tip off from a member of the public.

Dettman reportedly gave police a false name before he was arrested and taken to Werribee police station.

Before his capture, he was last seen in Werribee on Melbourne's western outskirts about 5pm on Sunday, reportedly collecting some items from the back porch of his mother's house.

His mother made a plea on TV news on Monday afternoon to hand himself in and he was back in custody a few hours later.

"He's definitely not dangerous, he's more of a wuss than anything," his mother told Nine News.

"He did drop in for a couple of things that I had on the back porch but that's about it."

Dettman was serving time since October for offences including indecent acts in the presence of a child and wilful and obscene exposure.

Prisoners are sometimes transferred to Langi Kal Kal towards the end of their sentence and it is believed Dettman had less than a month to serve, police told reporters on Sunday.

He was reportedly only in the facility for a few days before he escaped after being transferred from the maximum security Port Phillip Prison.