Most child abusers 'escape conviction'

06:40 AEST Fri Oct 3 2008

 

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A report by the Australian law reform Commission has reportedly found 95 per cent of child sex offenders escape conviction.

Just five to ten per cent of child sex cases which get to court are finalised with only half of those accused offences actually convicted, according to News Ltd.

The report also shows over the past ten years, the number of children Australia-wide in need of protection has tripled from almost 92,000 to more than 309,000.

The percentage of children aged 10 to 17 who came into contact with police has also soared from four per cent to an estimated 15 - 17 per cent.

The report's author James McDougall says: "we have let the children down".

"Child protection is just one of those areas, we should be creating environments where our children are better off and protected."