POLICE received complaints of sexual offences against 302 children last year.

That figure represents hundreds of lives blighted.

It also represents a failure by the adult world to protect hundreds of children from harm. The NSPCC says only 10 per cent of reported child sex offences result in a conviction, which says something about how difficult it is to muster the evidence to prosecute many of these allegations.

It is calling for a “concentrated effort” to reduce the level of offending.

Odd as it may sound, there is some good news in those figures.

Martyn Underhill, the detective who led the Sarah Payne murder inquiry, says the figures have increased in recent years because victims feel more empowered to make a complaint.

But once they have found the courage to speak up, it is society’s responsibility not to let them down.