This shit works for a reason. People are bombarded with "Chris Hansen Child Rape Special Report!" style news coverage. There's a tacit understanding that kids aren't safe from sexual assault in the US, given that everyone from the town priest to the chairman of the House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children is in on it. Combine the terror of these crimes with a sense of powerlessness as individuals and you create a populace that's more than ready to lash out at any perceived perpetrator.

Americans, being the most propagandized people on Earth, are primed to get rug pulled on this shit over and over again. Every generation brings in a fresh crop of marks. Playing these marks is how conservative movements keep themselves moving.