Uomo incarcerato per reati sessuali dopo aver organizzato un bambino alla stazione ferroviaria di Harlow

I get it’s bad to judge a book by its cover or whatever, but a lotta these guys really do look like paedophiles. Like to a statistically significant extent.

Most abusers are known to the child, as family members, friends, acquaintances, or authority figures, not strangers. The majority of victims do not disclose abuse at the time or report it to authorities, and even when they do, the criminal justice system only charges a small percentage of suspected offenders.

The scale of under-reporting is vast. For every perpetrator arrested or prosecuted, there are likely many more going unchallenged, with friends, family, and people in positions of trust making up the majority of offenders.

These findings reinforce concerns that a significant number of children are approached or harmed sexually but do not disclose or report the abuse, leaving many offenders, often within the child’s family or social circle, at large in the community.

While it’s great that this guy was caught, let’s not let ‘stranger danger’ distract us from the reality that 80% of child sexual assault is perpetrated by family, friends of family or caregivers known to the child, and the vast majority of these perpetrators will never be reported or prosecuted.