RARELY a day goes by that you don’t see a case about another paedophile being jailed.

It’s horrific. It’s terrifying. But all is not what it seems.

The constant coverage of sex abuse cases in the media, particularly in the wake of the Jimmy Savile scandal, may lead you to believe that offenders are waiting around every corner to abuse your children.

But the reality is actually, more often, much closer to home. The majority of abuse takes places inside the victim’s own home or that of someone very close to them.

Take the harrowing case in today’s Bolton News where a young girl courageously petitioned the court to jail her father for three years - the same amount of time she was subjected to his vile attacks.

READ MORE: Child victim tells Bolton Crown Court: 'Jail dad for same time he abused me'

It’s more common than you may think - but we aren’t often able to report it. We are only able to report this case by not naming her attacker in order to be able to tell you about the young girl's brave move before the court.

Under normal circumstances newspapers and other media organisations choose to name the perpetrator of these vile crimes. To name and shame them for their disgusting acts.

And that is right. Criminals should be shamed. But the unintended consequence of that choice means news organisations like The Bolton News are then unable to report the full details of the case.

The law, rightly, protects victims in all sexual cases from ever being identified. That means nothing can be reported that could lead to the identification of the victim. So, if the perpetrator is named, news organisations are unable to report any of the other details that may lead to the identification of the victim, including their relationship to the attacker.

This can lead to the impression that the attacker was unknown to their victim.

The law is, of course, completely right but it may have also unintentionally fuelled a misconception that most attackers are strangers lurking on the streets.

The reality, sadly, is much worse. Recent research has found that more than 90 per cent of victims of rape and sexual assault actually know their attacker.

Unfortunately, through no fault on any part, that can't always be made clear in the coverage you read.

So, while nobody is trying to dupe readers into a false reality, sadly, the consequences of all this means that's exactly what has happened.