THE comments made by Judge Michael Taylor yesterday in connection with the handling of child sex cases make grim reading.
This is a man with extraordinary experience of dealing with legal issues surrounding child sex cases. As a barrister 20 years ago, he was involved in the Cleveland Child Abuse Inquiry which produced new guidelines on the management of child sex abuse allegations.
So for him to speak out so passionately about the "failings" of the police and legal system with regard to children is especially alarming.
In the face of such public condemnation, Cleveland Crown Prosecution Service has issued a terse statement, saying the judge's comments will be noted and further inquiries made.
The CPS, which surprisingly chose not to accede to the judge's request for a representative to be in court, will have to do better than that.
A full response to Judge Taylor's list of withering allegations will need to be made public sooner rather than later.
The case brought against a 17-year-old boy accused of raping a 14-year-old girl in Hartlepool was clearly a shambles. But was it a one-off, or is it an example of a wider, systematic problem?
Either way, it is serious. But if it is the latter - as the judge is suggesting - then the police and the CPS have serious questions to answer.
Twenty years after the agonies of the Cleveland Child Abuse Inquiry, we need to know that correct procedures are in place.
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