UNITED KINGDOM
Basingstoke Gazette
by Press Association 2014
Almost one in every 35 men could pose a sexual risk to children, new figures suggest.
The research by the National Crime Agency found that as many as 3% of men could be a potential sex abuser or have an interest in online child porn.
The NCA’s deputy director Phil Gormley told the Mail on Sunday that of those, as many as 250,000 men were “true paedophiles” – attracted to pre-pubescent girls under 12.
He said a new approach was needed to protect children from potential abusers, saying: “If all we have is arrest and incarceration, that will not help them come forward.
“Like most people I am shocked by the estimated number who have this interest. It tells us some unhealthy things about human nature.”
The issue of child sex abuse has been thrust violently into the spotlight in recent months and years through high profile scandals including DJ Jimmy Savile’s sex abuse on an epic scale and the grooming gang scandals in Rotherham and Oxford.
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