Child sex abuse: Focus on strangers ignores real risks

Statistics show that 93% of sexual predators are known to their victims. Parents who ignore this in trying to keep their children safe are only exposing them to risk, writes Rita de Brún.

THE oddball lurking in the shadows. The shifty-looking loner hanging around the school gates. The driver of the parked van. If only it were that simple. If only we could tell at a glance if someone was assessing our children as prey.

There’s always a predator on the loose. We can’t always watch our children and keep them close. So we comfort ourselves by fuelling the myth that sex predators waiting to pounce come in easily recognisable categories; that they’re either strangers in general, or stereotypical weirdos in particular; that they’re the sort that decent, law-abiding citizens could red-flag as dangerous with one superficial, side-long glance.