The ramification of the number forty along with the knowledge that only one in ten is known to the public indicates that there are 360 potential molesters walking around the neighborhood, which seems awfully high.
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There was a warning posting on a community email list last week, regarding a spate of child molestation reports in RBS.
The intent of the writer is to warn the public and promote policies which increase awareness and safety - which is indeed valid and should be strongly encouraged.
The email mentioned that: "Being in contact with Magen, I was told that there are over FORTY known child molesters in RBS and they are walking the streets freely."
That particular sentence is somewhat innaccurate, and so Magen wishes to clarify.
Magen is aware of nearly forty men in RBS against whom allegations have been made of crimes against children. This is not to say these men have all been formally charged, convicted or sentenced. Indeed, most are indeed "walking the streets freely" - many due to the unwillingness of victims/families to formally complain to the authorities, or due to lack of evidence which would meet the standards of the criminal legal system. Around fifteen cases resulted in arrests, and most of these suspects are now within the system of the police/courts.
Due to many legal, halachik and practical issues, Magen is currently unable and unwilling to publish a list of names of people suspected of child abuse.
Furthermore, Magen believes this list would be misleading as it represents just a small proportion of the total problem. In part this is because only around one in ten child abuse victims reports to an adult who can take appropriate action. So for every case we are aware of, there are statistically another nine.
As the writer of the warning email points out, the main practical step we can all take is to better educate ourselves and (without panic) our children about child protection, and practical steps to increase safety and to reduce the risks; unfortunately these risks exist in our shuls, schools, streets, parks and even within our own homes.
For further information about the nature and extent of these risks in RBS, we refer interested readers to a recent article: http://magenprotects.
and an article in the Jewish Press: http://www.jewishpress.
If you would like to host an information evening/event about child protection, such as for your shul, or simply for a group of friends, please contact Magen. (Please note our new phone number).
Wishing you and all of our children a chag kasher, sameach, ve'batuach!
Take care,
Magen
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The 1 in 10 means for every known molester, there are likely 9 times more incidents they have perpetrated than have been reported. It means their tentacles go far further than the statistics indicate, ch"v.
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