UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Josh Halliday
The Guardian, Sunday 11 November 2012
Victims of child abuse may be afraid to speak out for fear of being attacked by the media as part of a “sensationalist witch-hunt”, a former children’s minister has warned.
Tim Loughton, Conservative MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, said he worried that victims would fear they would be “taken out to dry” by the media in the scramble to name public figures as paedophiles.
“We’re forgetting that this whole issue is not about the management of the BBC, it’s not about the Leveson inquiry, and it’s not about celebrities or politicians. It’s about the fact that a lot of children have been abused over many years and many of them have never had their stories believed or investigated,” Loughton said.
“The media has made it into a sensationalist witch-hunt rather than focusing on what are horrific levels of abuse over many, many years.”
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