FIRST it was a trickle, then a flood and now a torrent. Incredulity is not a strong enough word to describe the astonishing glut of allegations surrounding Jimmy Savile, who was once one of Britain’s best-loved and
highest-paid entertainers.
On screen, he was a genial, if eccentric, champion of family values, helping children to achieve their dreams and keeping them safe through a highly successful road safety campaign.
Now the truth about Savile as a sexual predator is emerging, the astonishment grows about how he could have fooled so many people for so long and somehow prevented those who did know from reporting his criminal activities. The list of
culpability is long and growing, including the BBC, the NHS and the Department of Health.
If any good is to come out of this harrowing episode it
is that, as we report today, many people who
suffered abuse as children will now feel the climate is right to make their experiences known. Counselling organisations such as Trauma Counselling Line Scotland say getting those experiences out into the open is one of the first steps in the healing process. That so many potential victims of the sickest of crimes now feel able to come forward is at least a hint of silver lining on a very dark and shameful cloud.