From the time we are young we are told of stranger danger. Don’t talk to strangers, don’t accept anything to eat from strangers. Don’t get into a car with strangers. But the monsters we should fear most, often hide amongst us, in fact, in some cases they are the ones we trust with our most valuable gifts – our children.

This was the case with Poppy, a happy little four-year-old. Like most, she enjoyed going to pre-school every day. But that all changed when the co-owner of the creche, the man who drove her to and from school every day showed his true colours and raped her in the vehicle they were driving. Poppy has now lost her joy in life and cries because of the horrible trauma she had to endure. At four years old, she has been forced to grow up far beyond her years.

Research on paedophiles show that a child predator often has hundreds of victims before they are caught and convicted and in South Africa, the conviction rates of these crimes are notoriously low because the children who fall prey to these monsters are often too young to testify in court. Parents should be made aware of the potential danger when they entrust their children to any adult.