Westminster paedos and celebrity nonces: of 1,433 alleged offenders not a single one is a policeman
Westminster paedos: a look at reporting on the story of historical sex abuse gone unpunished.
The Guardian tells us that since Sir Jimmy Savile was dug up, stripped of his knighthood and beaten with sticks, 1,400 people have been investigated for child sex abuse.
That sound a lot. It might even be too much to actuall fund. Talk of a paedophile amnesty would be on the cards were the issue not so toxic. And, then, if you investigate the suspect, do you also investigate those who turned away and failed the victims?
The Guardian sums up:
Officer leading Operation Hydrant inquiry says out of 1,433 alleged offenders 76 were politicians, 43 were from music industry and 135 were from TV, film or radio
We love a celebrity nonce, reserving for them extra space in the nation’s news organs. It’s as if we now consider being raped by a face worse than being raped by a parent or stranger. The Guardian leads its report wih a montage of the great and bad. We see TV weatherman Fred Talbot, Gary Glitter – a man we knew was peadophile before Savile died, the stubbornly mute and innocent-til-dead Jimmy Savile, the revolting Rolf Harris, the BBC’s Stuart Hall and the depraved Max Clifford.
Who else we got, then?
The scale of alleged child abuse across society – both recent and non-recent – was stark, said Ch Const Simon Bailey, who runs Operation Hydrant, the national coordinating team overseeing the various inquiries.
The scale of alleged abuse can be as big as you want it to be. It’s the scale of convictions we want to see.
Bailey warned that the number of victims could run into the hundreds of thousands, and called for much more support for survivors of child abuse. He said he believed that the enormous increase in reports of all types of child sexual abuse – which have risen by 71% since 2012 to 116,000 reports this year – was not just down to more victims coming forward.
Don’t tell us – it’s down to the trusty coppers?
Bailey said the figures were stark. “This year I am anticipating an estimated 116,000 reports of child sexual abuse will be received, that is a 71% increase since 2012, so it gives you some idea of the scale of this.
“What we are seeing is an absolutely unprecedented increase in the number of reports that are coming forward. That has brought about a step-change in the way the police service has had to deal with this. We are rising to and meeting the challenge, this is what Operation Hydrant is about.”
Bailey says paedos are operating in new ways that require new police tactics and more cash. But of the 116,000 reports of child sexual abuse this year, 52,446 are allegations of sexual abuse in the past.
How can they all be investigated fully? And while we boggle at the numbers, we realise that abuse went on for so long because instututions ignored it – which brings us to the police. The headlines are all about TV stars and elected officials, but what of police officers? Is there not one – not a single copper – on that list of 1,433 names?
Bailey adds:
“One of our primary objectives is to make sure where we get intelligence and where we get evidence of abuse it is being coordinated so we don’t make those mistakes. That particular case showed mistakes were made and he was able to go on and continue further abusing. The whole idea is that we don’t make those mistakes again.”
The police are guilty of not listening to victims in the past. Now they go trawling for them, accepting claims at face value. Wilful ignorance has been replaced by a craven, and desperate PR exercise in crisis management.
The Daily Mail adds:
Victims were abused in 357 institutions including schools, children’s homes, places of worship, medical institutions, prisons, youth clubs, community centres, sports venues and military establishments, according to figures from the National Police Chiefs Council.
The National Police Chiefs Council has more facts behind the headline numbers:
To date Operation Hydrant has received reports of:
1433 suspects of which 216 are deceased
666 suspects related to institutions
261 classified as people of public prominence
506 are classified as unidentified
357 institutions have been identified within the scope of the operation.
That’s 722 reports that will get nowhere.
The NPCC Child Protection and Abuse Investigations Working Group has examined figures from 12 police forces within England and Wales looking at their caseload of child sexual abuse incidents from 2012 to the first quarter of 2015. These have been extrapolated across all 43 forces and projected to the end of 2015.
They show a rise in incidents from 66,120 in 2012 to a projected 113,291 cases in 2015, which is a potential 71 per cent increase in the overall number of cases reported to police over the last three years. Recent cases have risen by 31 per cent and non-recent cases have risen by 165 per cent.
And the backlog is growing.
We again hear from, who makes the point the media choose to ignore:
“Much public and media focus has been on horrors committed by well-known personalities, groups, gangs or in institutions, but the vast majority of victims are abused by family members or friends.”
True.
And then we get the PR:
“Police have done a huge amount to meet the challenge: we have responded to criticism, changed how we engage with victims and how we investigate abuse. Many victims have now found confidence to report abuse, knowing we will treat them sensitively, respectfully, listen to them and take reports of their abuse seriously. I would encourage all victims of sexual abuse to come forward and report their abuse…”
No need for an “alleged” anywhere in that,. The police are now utterly believing.
“We cannot measure protecting children and the vulnerable by the number of arrests and prosecutions, the issue is much more complex.”
When the voice of the nicking people says arrests don’t matter, you know the system is creaking…
Posted: 21st, May 2015 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
