Responding to a new campaign, supported by Cliff Richard and Paul Gambaccini, calling for suspects accused of sexual crimes to have anonymity prior to charge, NAPAC’s CEO, Gabrielle Shaw said this:
“No one wants an innocent person to be publicly accused and prosecuted – least of all victims and survivors of sexual crimes. However the risk of false allegations being reported has to be balanced against the risk of serial offenders against children remaining undetected and continuing to abuse. More than one in ten women and 3% of men in England & Wales were sexually assaulted during childhood *.
“People who abuse children come from all walks of life. Most are family members or in a position of trust, with the perpetrator having built a relationship with the child prior to offending. The police need to be able to investigate without fear or favour. We don’t want trial by media, but we need to recognise that good media reporting has an important role to play in making our society safer for children.”
* Source: ONS National Crime Survey 2016 Go to ONS data here
Media coverage is important Click here to read NAPAC’s Media Guidelines