“WHAT he did to me when I was seven is something that still haunts me 40 years later.

“Through years of counselling I have come to terms with it but I can never forgive him – I used to look up to him but he let me down in the worst possible way.”

These are the words of Jane Murphy (name changed to protect identity) who was repeatedly sexually assaulted and raped by her uncle over a period of 12 months when she was seven and he was 18.

“He is my mum’s younger brother and when he came round to visit us he would find an excuse to take me into the shed where we kept our outdoor toys. There he would violate me and then make me perform sex acts on him.

“Then one day, when he was babysitting for me while my parents were at a football match with my two brothers, he raped me.

“He made me promise to keep it a secret. Afterwards, he cried and said I had made him do it and that my parents would be angry with me if they found out, so I didn’t tell anybody for years.

“That was the last time he touched me sexually. Shortly afterwards he met his future wife – they married and moved away.

“From being an outgoing, bubbly child I became withdrawn and obsessed with washing my hands – something I was very secretive about as I didn’t want anyone to know about what had happened in the shed.

“I tried to wash away what had happened but I couldn’t ever rid myself of the feeling of dirtiness.

“As the years went by I became disruptive in school and troublesome at home.

“My parents put my behaviour down to being a teenager.

“I don’t remember exactly when I realised the abuse hadn’t been something I had brought upon myself, but I will never forget my mum initially not believing me when I finally got the courage to say something when I was 14.

“I think it was a combination of shock, denial and guilt on her part that I had been suffering for years and she hadn’t realised and that it had been caused by someone she loved and trusted.

“The effect on our family was catastrophic. My mum cried a lot and my dad, a very mild tempered man was beside himself. He immediately went out and destroyed the shed.

“My parents confronted my uncle and he vehemently denied it but after that day my mum never spoke to him again.

“I didn’t contact the police at the time because I thought my family had been through enough and felt I couldn’t cope with it being out in the open, so I buried what had happened.

“I joined the police force, got married and had two daughters. But when my eldest daughter turned seven the memories came flooding back.

“I became paranoid that my own brothers would abuse my daughters and I wouldn’t leave them alone together.

“I developed severe depression, for which I still take anti–depressants, had suicidal thoughts and quit my job that I had loved.

“My marriage had broken down several years before and I was dating a wonderful man, who I have been married to now for 10 years.

“It was him who encouraged me to go to counselling and for the first time I was referred to a special rape counsellor, who helped me address my feelings of guilt, denial, anger and low self–esteem.

“For the first time in years I talked about what my uncle had done to me and while it was incredibly hard to talk about something that had eaten me alive for years it was also a relief.

“My uncle has two daughters of his own and I often prayed that he never did to them what he had done to me – this guilt and advice from my counsellor that it is never too late to report a sexual assault, prompted me to report him to the police.

“They were fantastic. They didn’t make me feel foolish for having waited so long to report him but they did advise me that unless he admitted it they would struggle to prosecute him.

“My biggest regret is that I hadn’t kept any kind of diary from the time and I hadn’t told anybody until years after the event so it was my word against his, which meant it wasn’t going to stand up in court as there was no evidence.

“My uncle was arrested and interviewed. He denied it, which I knew he would, and he wasn’t prosecuted but I feel some kind of vindication that he knows that I know he raped and abused me and if anyone else – maybe his daughters – come forward to report him, there may be a case to answer at court.

“While I still have occasional flashbacks life is easier to live now but I hope not a day goes by that he doesn’t suffer with guilt for what he has done to me and that he feels even a quarter of the pain I have felt since he stole my happy childhood.”