We are long past being shocked by cases of child sexual abuse when they come to light. That’s because these atrocities continue to plague the country despite harsh sentences imposed on some perpetrators by the courts, and the fact that there are still too many people, among them individuals with considerable influence, who act like the proverbial ostrich when these cases are publicised.

Our renewed focus on this issue has its foundation in this week’s Sunday Observer lead story reporting on bizarre sex offence cases that have come before the Trelawny Circuit Court in recent weeks.

Among the cases is that of a father who repeatedly abducted and raped his teenage daughter while videoing the encounters; and a 60-year-old man who threatened to “obeah” his 12-year-old neighbour if she did not have sex with him.

In the case of the father, who was charged for having sex with his teenage daughter over a two-year period, his explanation to the court for this despicable crime was that he wanted to satisfy his curiosity about what sex with his own child would feel like.

He pleaded guilty at the last minute, we are told, and was convicted on two counts of incest, one count of producing pornographic material because he video-recorded the engagements, one count of forcible abduction, and one count of grievous sexual assault.

Sunday’s story also highlighted another horrifying case of a child on the brink of being evicted with her mother from the home of a man with whom the mother was having a relationship, being raped by that man for two years.

The matter came to a head when the child got pregnant at 15 and the man was arrested and charged.

Most readers, we are sure, were astonished on learning that this rapist’s lawyer, in pleading his case, told Chief Justice Mr Bryan Sykes that the man was willing to look after the baby but if he was sent to prison he would not be able to do so.

Justice Sykes commendably dismissed the man’s offer, saying that if he were to place too much weight on that proposal he would be incentivising adults to have sex with children.

We note that Chief Justice Sykes, who has been handling the matters, has been handing down heavy sentences to these beasts who have been preying on children. He has also been critical of the culture of acceptance of these crimes in the communities where they are committed.

That culture, unfortunately, has developed over many years and, as the attorney who informed us about the cases noted, has resulted in the victims being ostracised by residents, some of whom classify the abused children as “loose” and “sluts”.

“They do not see the children as victims,” the attorney said, pointing out that in most of the cases residents excuse the perpetrators’ crimes by arguing that they are kind and decent men, or that they are good fathers, and that they should be given a chance.

The State has, over the years, implemented many programmes to counter this type of backward thinking. However, the cases now coming before the Trelawny Circuit Court suggest that a lot more needs to be done to change what is really a deeply entrenched behaviour.

We appeal to all well-thinking Jamaicans who have knowledge of these crimes to report them. The damage they do to children is, in most cases, irreparable.