I am reading a book at the moment written by an American Psychologist who specialised in treating victims of sex abuse. She has spent decades interviewing and studying child abusers, rapists, sadists and psychopaths. The book is probably one of the most difficult and harrowing books I have ever read and I have had to take many breaks from it as it is so distressing.
She has stated and proved over and over again that there is nothing that these people won't do to get what they want. They play "the long game" to gain access to their victims, sometimes waiting years to get what they want. The grooming, manipulating and deceiving of everyone involved is all part of the game in which they get immense satisfaction and a perverse pleasure from.
They often work hard to get into positions of power which can involve extensive training, time spent gaining trust, breaking down boundaries etc, in order to achieve their evil aims. They have infinite patience as it all feeds their perverse desires. They are opportunists and are brilliant at seeing every way to manipulate situations to their own advantage.
The priests, teachers, charity workers, scout leaders, etc, etc, etc, that have been convicted of these crimes worked very hard to be in the positions they were in to access their victims. They befriend, flatter,
reward, groom, ensure they are beyond suspicion, test and push boundaries, manipulate, use, threaten, frighten, control etc, not just the intended victims but their families, friends, coworkers and anyone that is deemed useful to help them achieve their final goal.
From what she has written they are far more prevalent than we imagine. The ones that are caught are only the tip of the iceberg. It would be sadly very naive of us to think that these predators will not be latching on to the current situation as it will appear to be a perfect opening to them. They do not care who they use or hurt in their quest to abuse. They will not care the damage they will do to the LGBT+ community, the safety or rights of women and children. They do not care of the destruction they will leave behind in their wake to genuine trans women and men. They will not stop until they have hurt a great many people or are caught.
We need safeguards to protect women, children, genuine trans women and men, confused and questioning teen-agers, the lgbt community and everyone who is vulnerable to these evil people.