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THE DEEDS revealed and alleged in court this week in the trial of Tom Pollacci are enough to make one’s blood run cold.

It’s horrible to contemplate what happened to Jane Doe 4 in a Carmel Highlands parking garage. A friendly lunch, a glass of wine or two, and then a brutal rape in a car. In that case, Pollacci admitted committing sexual assault and was put on probation.

Even more terrible was the story of the 16-year-old girl kidnapped from her home on a sunny morning in 1980, taken to mid valley and raped on the sandy bank of the Carmel River.

Almost as discouraging as that deed itself is the knowledge that the rapist got away with it. The poor girl, as we explain on our front page, was woefully ignorant of the system of justice, and thought it would somehow cost her family a lot of money to have her assailant brought to justice.

The second fear that motivated her to keep silent, unfortunately, was not completely unfounded. As a rape victim, she probably would have suffered humiliation and shame. It’s difficult to tell a story like that — even in private. And, although California’s legal system protects the identities of sexual assault victims, once you go to the authorities it’s likely lots of people will find out anyway.

So for Jane Doe 1, her 29 years of silence are understandable. Even now, she surely did not want to revisit what happened to her when she was a sophomore in high school.

And for Jane Doe 4, who testified against Pollacci in the early 1990s, there was plenty of motivation to let the whole thing stay in the past.

Yet there they were, taking the witness stand this week to help put Pollacci in prison for his latest alleged crime.

For this, Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 4 deserve the community’s deepest thanks. They are risking a lot, and they are doing it for everyone’s else’s safety.

IT’S TOO early to tell what Jason Burnett’s resounding victory in the city council election will mean for Carmel.

But one thing is for sure: It’s a good thing the ugly election campaign is over. The candidates, for the most part, comported themselves appropriately. But some of the supporters of Burnett and Adam Moniz exhibited the most appalling behavior that has probably ever been seen in a Carmel election. They should be ashamed. And we’re glad we don’t have to listen for at least two more years to any of the nonsense they’ve been spreading.