We must make sure that victims of child sexual abuse aren’t put off reporting

National Policing Lead for Child Protection, Chief Constable Simon Bailey:

"If we go back three years to the Savile case and look at what has taken place since, we are now dealing with an unprecedented number of victims who are having the confidence and the courage to come forward and report non-recent sexual abuse.  By the end of 2015, we anticipate that police will be dealing with over 70,000 cases; an increase of 80 per cent on 2012.

"I would not want other victims considering reporting abuse to feel that if they do come forward and make those reports that their lives will then be subjected to the type of scrutiny and type of exposure that we have seen in the recent weeks and months in the media.  Police take our responsibility to protect vulnerable victims and witnesses throughout the criminal justice process very seriously.  We hope that those reporting or commenting on these cases also consider impact on vulnerable victims or witnesses.

“It's only right in my view that police should be given the opportunity to investigate these cases professionally and proportionately without our investigations being compromised."

Listen to Chief Constable Simon Bailey speaking on the Today Programme here.