Extract from Kate's book:
One of the most concerning and upsetting pieces of information to emerge (from the release of the files) quite early was the record of sexual crimes against children in the Algarve.
The discovery made me feel physically sick. I read of five cases of British children on holiday being sexually abused in their beds while their parents slept in another room.
In three further incidents, children encountered an intruder in their bedrooms, who were presumably disturbed before he had the chance to carry out these assaults.
I guessed these were the reports that Bill Henderson had told me about. These incidents had occurred within an hour's drive of Praia da Luz over the three years prior to Madeleine's disappearance. The PJ had never mentioned any of them to us. In fact, I gathered from the files, some hadn't even been recorded by the authorities.
So they might never have come to light if the parents of these children hadn't been brave enough to come forward to the British police after Madeleine was taken and relive their nightmares.
They did so in the belief there could be a link between what happened to their children and what happened to her.
It broke my heart to read the terrible accounts of these devastated parents and the experience of their poor children.
....
The parents had called the police. They hadn't felt that the crime was taken seriously by the police or by their tour operators. Statements were often not taken. DNA and finger print evidence was frequently not sought. In most instances there was no sign of a break in.
I cried for hours after reading a letter of complaint from one mother regarding the sexual abuse of her daughter and the lack of proper attention paid to it.
The final line in particular has haunted me ever since:
"It is difficult to see with this lack of investigation or interest how a profile of this man can be built up. It did not appear to us that there was any great incentive or determination to find the offender and bring him to justice. Furthermore, it could all have been so much worse...indeed this man could go on to do much worse to another child if he's not stopped now".
Six months later, our beloved Madeleine was grabbed from her bed. Of course, none of these children was abducted and these crimes may be completely unrelated to what happened to Madeleine. We do not know who has taken our daughter and for what purpose.
What these cases do demonstrate, however, is that British tourists in holiday accomodation were being targeted. At the very least, the possibility of a link between these incidents and Madeleine's disappearance should have been investigated.
It is so hard not to scream ffrom the rooftops about how these crimes appear to have been brushed under the carpet.
The authorities have known of them for a long time and yet the perpetrators as far as the families are aware, remain free. Children are involved and they need to be protected.
