THE real scandal and real shock surrounding Jimmy Savile was the way he got away with abusing so many children for so long.

He was, so obviously with hindsight, the devil who hid in plain sight.

Everyone says they had their suspicions and the commonly-held belief is that this man managed to abuse hundreds of people and was never apprehended by the police before his death.

There are many reasons for this but one is that a significant number of Savile’s victims did not come forward, because they did not think they would be believed.

Today we report that calls to Oxford Sexual Abuse and Rape Crisis Centre have risen substantially in the year since the Savile scandal erupted.

This follows an earlier story we published that reports of sex abuse to police have also risen, and the horror of Savile is believed to be one of the motivating factors.

It may be that some women have seen the fact that Savile so inexplicably managed to get away with his crimes and it has steeled them against their own abuser similarly never being held to account.

If that is the case, then it is the one positive thing to emerge.

The conviction rate in sexual complaints remains disturbingly low in this country and as a society we need to address that.

More victims coming forward will, hopefully, see that rate of convictions increase.

Jimmy Savile may have escaped from justice.

Let’s make sure as a community that he becomes a rare exception.