The Manchester child abuse case disaster deserves far more attention
People who abuse children belong in prison regardless of the colour of their skin and that of their victims.
No race has a monopoly of this kind of evil. Sadly there are child abusers in this country of every race, of both genders, and of every religious and cultural orientation. And every one of them if the evidence exists to do so, should be prosecuted.
The disastrous mishandling of the case of the Manchester grooming gang, and the abandonment of Operation Augusta, is yet another sorry example of the catastrophic effect on our justice system wrought by a toxic combination of identity politics and cowardice.
And the victims of this catastrophic failure have been some of the most vulnerable young people in our society.
The fact that this cowardice continues is demonstrated by the inadequate level of press coverage of the horrifying report into what happened in Manchester, as Charlotte Henry rightly argues here.
Let me be absolutely clear.
White men who groom and rape children belong in prison
Black men who groom and rape children belong in prison
Brown men who groom and rape children belong in prison
Women of whatever race who abuse children or help others to do so also belong in prison
Anyone in authority who fails to act on evidence that vulnerable children are being abused because they are afraid of being called racist is guilty of the neglect of their duty.
And Manchester is only the latest in a string of too many parts of the country where there is evidence of exactly that kind of dereliction of duty.
I don't think there is an easy way to completely stamp out the horrible crime of child abuse - I wish there were. But we have to look for ways to make our efforts to protect the vulnerable and put the guilty behind bars more effective. More police resources is a start. But we also have to go back to some fundamental principles - the accused are innocent until proven guilty, but the authorities must follow the evidence wherever it leads.
In this country we've somehow managed at the same time to destroy the lives of people who were innocent of child abuse by pre-judging as "credible and true" false accusations from liars and fantasists like Karl Beech, while others who were guilty got away with it for far too long.
There was also at least one high-profile case where a distinguished public servant had the last year of his life wrecked through a case of mistaken identity caused by inadequate care by the authorities, where a genuine victim was shown a wrongly identified photographs, and it was only when a consequent mistaken allegation had been make public without adequate checks and broadcast on television that it was realised that the wrong person had had their reputation destroyed. That case may have been a one-off but it is an example of the sort of mistake which must not be allowed to happen again.
We have to do better. More must be done to follow up evidence and prosecute the guilty without pre-judging that evidence or falling into the trap of the kind of hysteria which might result in wrecking the lives of the innocent. And where there is evidence that a vulnerable child or young person is at risk it ought to be possible to deo more to protect those vulnerable people without pre-judging the guilt or innocence of those who may, or might not, subsequently be charged with wrongdoing.
No race has a monopoly of this kind of evil. Sadly there are child abusers in this country of every race, of both genders, and of every religious and cultural orientation. And every one of them if the evidence exists to do so, should be prosecuted.
The disastrous mishandling of the case of the Manchester grooming gang, and the abandonment of Operation Augusta, is yet another sorry example of the catastrophic effect on our justice system wrought by a toxic combination of identity politics and cowardice.
And the victims of this catastrophic failure have been some of the most vulnerable young people in our society.
The fact that this cowardice continues is demonstrated by the inadequate level of press coverage of the horrifying report into what happened in Manchester, as Charlotte Henry rightly argues here.
Let me be absolutely clear.
White men who groom and rape children belong in prison
Black men who groom and rape children belong in prison
Brown men who groom and rape children belong in prison
Women of whatever race who abuse children or help others to do so also belong in prison
Anyone in authority who fails to act on evidence that vulnerable children are being abused because they are afraid of being called racist is guilty of the neglect of their duty.
And Manchester is only the latest in a string of too many parts of the country where there is evidence of exactly that kind of dereliction of duty.
I don't think there is an easy way to completely stamp out the horrible crime of child abuse - I wish there were. But we have to look for ways to make our efforts to protect the vulnerable and put the guilty behind bars more effective. More police resources is a start. But we also have to go back to some fundamental principles - the accused are innocent until proven guilty, but the authorities must follow the evidence wherever it leads.
In this country we've somehow managed at the same time to destroy the lives of people who were innocent of child abuse by pre-judging as "credible and true" false accusations from liars and fantasists like Karl Beech, while others who were guilty got away with it for far too long.
There was also at least one high-profile case where a distinguished public servant had the last year of his life wrecked through a case of mistaken identity caused by inadequate care by the authorities, where a genuine victim was shown a wrongly identified photographs, and it was only when a consequent mistaken allegation had been make public without adequate checks and broadcast on television that it was realised that the wrong person had had their reputation destroyed. That case may have been a one-off but it is an example of the sort of mistake which must not be allowed to happen again.
We have to do better. More must be done to follow up evidence and prosecute the guilty without pre-judging that evidence or falling into the trap of the kind of hysteria which might result in wrecking the lives of the innocent. And where there is evidence that a vulnerable child or young person is at risk it ought to be possible to deo more to protect those vulnerable people without pre-judging the guilt or innocence of those who may, or might not, subsequently be charged with wrongdoing.
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