Way too many pedo pervs out there.
That was always the case. They’re just more open about it now and better connected.
Before you (or someone else) protests that there were safe zones and this didn’t happen back in the 50s/60s/70s, keep in mind that this song came out in 1972 and it had to have been based on events that happened earlier. What we’re seeing is anything but new, it’s just that we’re paying more attention and more suspicious these days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANI-T4TclJU
Lyrics:
Now I’m going to tell you about Sweet Mary Meek
Known for her loveliness
Young and quite a treat, yeah
She was known to wander by the creek
The pride of the prudes, Little Mary Meek
Yeah, yeah
Something happened to make the townfolk speak
‘Cause little Mary’s been gone now for over a week
Everybody says “Where can Mary be?”
Well I got Mary Meek and I won’t set her free
No. Oh no.
I’m Pete the Bondage Freak
I hide in the bushes down by the creek
I found Mary Meek and I won’t let her go
Yeah... that was a phenomenon well enough known to be in a popular song in *1972*. There’s also this infamous 1957 case that, well, circumstantially seems to indicate something about this bad. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boy_in_the_Box_(Philadelphia)