I had this very conversation with my Dad the other day.
His theory is that there aren't any more perverts than there were back in the "good old days". He thinks that they've been emboldened by talking to others like themselves (for instance, on the internet) AND further emboldened by the fact that repercussions are currently limited.
He said that if a person got caught diddling with kids back when he was a child, that person more likely than not would be "taken care of" (his words, not mine) and the local cops would take a pretty laissez faire attitude towards it.
Sez me, that makes sense. If a person knew that they were going to get offed, instead of patted on the head and told that they were the real victim by a sympathetic headshrinker .... Behavior would be modified, rapidly.
Makes as much sense as anything. Truly we are in a Brave New World.
I do think that much went on “outside of the law” and then also, “outside of our Constitution” back in those days ... and as you say a “vigilante-type justice”. However, when one acts more in line with the U.S. Constitution, and less on vigilante justice, then you are going to have an “attitude” from some, in committing their crimes and demanding their Constitutional rights in the process. Unless we want to scrap much of the U.S. Constitution and go more to vigilante justice, this is how it’s going to be.
Ever since the missing kids were put on milk cartons, parents who didn’t abort became more wary. I think the child porn industry is one stat you should take into account that is offset by vigilant parents.