Well known politicians - including some who are currently MPs - have been named by victims to a sex abuse helpline, it was claimed.
The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) said some names were mentioned "again and again".
Callers also named top judges and senior police officers, claimed Dr Jon Bird of the NAPAC.
"The names of people in very high places - politicians, senior police officers and even some judges - have been going around as alleged abusers for a very long time," he told Sky News.
"Since the Jimmy Savile revelations, there's been a sea change in the way police and the CPS respond to these sort of complaints and now, at last, it looks like these people are going to be investigated."
Home secretary Theresa May has enlisted a chief of child protection charity, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children to investigate a historic investigation into sex abuse claims carried out in the 1980s. It is not expect to report back until after the next General Election.
The Home Office's top civil servant is set to be quizzed by MPs about the handling of historical allegations of child sex abuse involving politicians.
Mark Sedwill is to face questions from the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee about how his department lost or destroyed 114 files that could shed light on alleged abuse in the 1980s.
The government has already announced two reviews into claims of abuse.
At least 20 public figures have been accused of abuse spanning "decades".
