Child protection - Our young continue to be let down

DESPITE public acknowledgment that crimes against innocent, vulnerable children rank among the most heinous of all offences, Ireland’s appalling record of ailure in the realm of child protection is underlined today in the most graphic terms by an Irish Examiner investigation.

Representing the most comprehensive illustration to date of the sheer scale of crime against children, the results show that even though an average of 3,500 crimes a year are reported to the gardaí – ranging from homicide to sex abuse, violent assault, robbery, neglect, and harassment – fewer than one out of five such incidents end up in the courts.

Given the gravity of these crimes, it is distressing to find that only one out of 10 cases result in a conviction. In other words, nine times out of 10 the perpetrators get away scot-free. What is particularly worrying about this scenario is that the extent of crime against children here is believed to be the tip of an iceberg.