B C Vaughan, of Higher Street, Dartmouth, writes:

There will be many a male looking anxiously over his shoulder now as the recent court case within current national 'witch-hunt', presently engaged in a ferocious trawl to expose any juicy sex-based historic events which would feed the increasingly rapacious media with content to titillate

I refer to the recent case involving 56-year-old Philip Walton, who is now serving 18 years, mostly in solitary confinement on account of the class of conviction, which by any standard of retribution fails to exhibit even remotely some sort of reasonable humanity and controlled justice – there were no injuries, armed threatening behaviour, permanent bodily damage or deaths.

No, just a man's blundering, sexually-based groping at the most unfruitful awakenings of pathetic erotic response, which, if investigations were made, would reflect that similar blind experimentation during his own puberty in tackling the overwhelming power of humanity's primary reproductive energy.

Walton joins at least one other in Exeter prison, jailed for a long period under similar injustice for a list of really botched fumbles.

Hard experience directs that on account of such a strong basic force involved here, sexual considerations, it is very important that the identities of all suspects are protected.

As chairman of the Bar Council of England and Wales Maura McGowan QC has advised, Should people accused of sex offences be given anonymity? Chronicle, February 22, this sort of mud both sticks and stains. Once someone is accused, that's it, they can't shake it off. False accusations, whether generated by blunder or malicious intent are all long-term wounds, which could swiftly escalate a dispute or incident into the heights of murder or suicides.

Whatever the final outcome, always there is need to move away, change name and habits or generally try to cover up a thoroughly bad situation – whereas if there is an acquittal, there could be no need for such a huge change of lifestyle.

Nevertheless, the present situation is bad for society – the situation for children very much worse, with their reputation tending to frighten off many. Primary schools already suffer from few males on their staff and meaningful sex education in the secondaries is a lost cause. What teacher is going to risk his livelihood owing to a false word or close comfort of a child? Just too risky.

Women's rights campaigners need to watch their dialogue, as well as the serious misuse of words, vague general meanings which obliterate understanding.

Women's rights campaigners would do well to lift their eyes worldwide and ponder as to why, more often than not, women are severely marginalised out at the fringes of society or dressed to hide themselves.

The reality is that far from the trumpeting by the 'just say no brigade', our children are suffering more ignorance about reproductive matters and opportunities to experiment with 'relationships' and all the time their pleas for privacy in these very delicate matters is walked all over.