That's true @andre-verbrick however it goes deeper. Child protection should be the top priority of our justice/legal system. You protect abused children, you won't stop all the crime, but you'll put a METEOR-sized dent in crime.

For more insight, check out Andrew Vachss. He's a lawyer from NYC if memory serves me correctly and his only clients are children. He used to run a juvenile detention centre and he said the worst of the worst, the ones who had no hesitation about hurting others had severe abuse in their history.

His books are amazing and his words hit to the soul of people (me) who were abused as children.

His understanding of the criminal class is so intimate that there are forensic psychologists who wish they understood criminals like he does (according to people I'm in acquaintance with who've worked with him).

Here's his website:
http://www.vachss.com/vachss/faq.html