Have courage and speak ou- Savile reports

THE two reports on the sexual predations — and perversions — of the late paedophile Jimmy Savile published yesterday are a shocking reminder of what can happen when position and authority are misused to protect criminal behaviour.

We have had more than enough of our own experiences in this area but, despite huge efforts, we cannot be certain that the cliché — “this can never happen again” — rings true.

The latest reports on Savile’s attacks record that many complaints were made but that most of them were shrugged off. One victim, a young girl of eight, who had the courage to complain, was told not to be silly and “did she not know how much money Savile raised for the hospital”. The monster’s behaviour was “an open secret” as early as 1973, yet he continued unchallenged until his death just four years ago.

It is unfortunate but certain that there will be another Jimmy Savile, another Brendan Smyth, and another Sean Fortune. That is the reality of our fractured and often broken humanity, it would be dangerous and foolish to pretend otherwise. Though we have made good progress on protection procedures and mandatory reporting of suspicions, it seems that more is needed. We should do all we can to teach our children to be tough enough to report any unwelcome attention — and the best way to do that is to act fearlessly and quickly if they make a complaint. Cultural change is as important as legislative change in this context.