M McGowan-Scanlon, of Halwell, writes:

I was in complete shock after reading the letter from BC Vaughan which appeared to me to be an apology for the actions of a vile paedophile on the basis that no one was physically hurt.

To say that the rape of a minor is merely a 'man's blundering, sexually based groping' and thus not serious is beyond ridiculous.

What BC Vaughan meant by the unintelligible twaddle that followed that pronouncement is, I suspect, beyond the wit of normal man.

I sat at home on International Women's Day and read, with utter contempt for the writer, the veiled threats to women's rights campaigners made in that letter.

I have spent a great deal of my working life as a soldier, a contract soldier and as head of security in some of the most appalling parts of the world, where man's inhumanity to man is beyond belief for those of us sitting comfortably back home. I have seen things I hope never to see or hear of again.

The worst offences though are always against women and children, basically highlighting the cowardice of the so-called men who perpetrate them – men like paedophile Phillip Walton who chose children to exploit sexually, terrifing them into keeping quiet and placing them in fear during their formative years. To say no one was physically hurt shows a lack of understanding of the hurt that runs deeper.

Knowing some of those involved, I am saddened that his abuse will live with them forever and I commend their absolute bravery in publicly facing him and his crimes.

Thankfully most men are not like him and the vast majority of us men are not 'looking anxiously over our shoulders'.

How dare BC Vaughan presume to think he speaks for me and my peers in saying something like that?

BC Vaughan would do well to recognise that, thankfully, there are a great majority of men who will fight to secure the rights of women to campaign against abuse, however it may happen, and for the rights of children to have a safe environment in which to grow.

As for Walton's sentence being too harsh, I personally hope he spends the next 18 years with an extremely large, paedophile-loathing cellmate.