One of the things that most depresses me about these sorts of stories is how many more similar stories there may be that never come to light. If not now, then in past years. There's a lot of misery in the world.

Also, I really don't understand how these sorts of things are still possible? I can live, I suppose, with social services not being able to spot many forms of abuse, at least for a period, but really, what was it about this case that made it so hard to pick up?

It seems to me than many of our systems are profoundly misdesigned, or misapplied, and spend most of their time endlessly investigating (you might go so far as harassing people for pretty minor transgressions, where the really huge cases simply go unchecked.

And then in the past there is the fact that it would have been much harder to do this, since neighbours, family, and that whole community thing would have been a check. The state does seem to be a poor substitute. Damn, at this rate I'm going to turn into a social conservative.