Reported historical sexual abuse case today. Please help me.

[Celticliving]

Today I gave a video statement to the police, reporting one of the people who sexually abused me and my friends 25 odd years ago.

Not only that, I named each and every one of the men (from the same institution) that sexually abused the other girls in my circle.

I was encouraged to name these people but now I'm feeling horribly guilty and uncomfortable that my childhood friends are going to hate me.

Was I unreasonable to finally expose this abuse?

I can barely breathe right now.

Well done for speaking out on behalf of yourself and other women.

I'm sorry that you suffered with this for 25 years.

You're very brave, I've had to do similar. Just think that you weren't the person abusing. Well done, I know it's scary xxxx

That was so brave of you, so well done.

Try not to focus on how other people might feel, some might be grateful, others might just want to forget all about it. You can't control that and that's ok. You've don't what you need to do and hopefully it helps put away the men for a very long time.

Do whatever self-care you need and I say again how brave you are.

Youv made a massive decision and a brave one. Well done.

Well done. How strong you are. I wish you well.

You are so brave.

I hope this is taken as seriously as it deserves to be.

Well done. You should be proud of yourself taking such a big step. You can't worry about others reactions, hopefully they'll be grateful but you need to do the right thing for you

You should be proud of yourself

Thank you so much everyone. It's a specialist team that deals in this kind of thing so I know that they are taking it seriously. I know that other people have come forward regarding the guy that abused me, so I'm super grateful to them.

What an incredibly strong thing to do. These monsters deserve naming and they deserve justice. Do you have access to support to help you work through all this and are you in contact with any of the other girls it may help you all to know you are together? Good luck to you. X

I've been sent lots of info regarding support but tbh I am a safeguarding officer in my workplace so I know where I can tap into help if I need it.

I've been advised not to contact the other girls. It could hurt the case. I need to let the team contact them in their own way. I know they will do it sensitively. But I just feel like they are going to hate me.

I reported one of the cases when we were teenagers but they all turned on me. I guess at 13/14 years old they couldn't see it for what it was.

I send you so much love and support.
I have the smallest insight into how this must feel for you as I experienced abuse more than 35 years ago. I never reported it and the abuser is now long dead. I know how it felt when I did start to speak up to a few people close to me ten years after it happened, so I applaud what you have done.
I hope you get the support and outcomes you deserve - your speaking up supports those who have already reported this. You’ve done nothing wrong in speaking out: that is the tactics of the abuser triggering your guilt and fear.
Sending so much love.

I think you are very brave. It's for your childhood friends to decide now what they want to do once they are contacted. You've done what you felt was best.

Breathe. You've got this. You've done the hard part, and you're incredibly brave for doing so. This is not your shame to carry, it's time for you to be selfish and do what you need to do to heal. I've done similar and the only advice I can give is be kind to yourself and grab all the support offered to you - for me it's a rollercoaster of feeling good about facing it and feeling guilty, and the emotions sneak up on me. Good luck x

Well done, you’ve been incredibly brave.

Yeah, this is exactly how I'm feeling. One minute I feel guilty and battered, the next I feel really empowered.

I hope I can put your mind at ease a little.

I was a victim of a paedophile ring who targeted the care home I was living in.

Ten years ago at the age of 39 I was contacted by the police after one of the other girls had reported her abuse. I never once felt any negative feeling towards her.

You've been very brave. I wish you all the best x

You are so brave. I can't imagine how it must've felt to have to do that.

Well done.

You are amazing.

I'm so sorry that you went through such a horrific experience.

I hope things have got easier for you Xx

I tell you what I found strange..

I was ok telling my experience. But when I started naming the other men and what they were doing with my friends, that's when I lost it.

This has taken you immense courage. Well done for reporting what happened after such a long time has passed. Doing the interview will have felt like a massive weight of your shoulders. One of my DC had to report an assault from several years ago and he was completely floored with emotional exhaustion the following day after the police interview. I am really proud of those who speak up. Thank you ❤️

You are the victim, like others have said don't worry about others reactions. It must have taken a huge amount of courage to report it so good for you and fingers crossed you get a 'good' outcome x

Well done on reporting this. When I was young (12 ish) my friend who was a year older and she was the first to have a "boyfriend" only he was an adult who lived next to her aunt who she visited every week. He sexually abused her but no one said anything (the children) because she seemed happy with it.

I wish I'd told my parents and still feel guilty about this today.

I wish my Mum was like you. I used to beg her not to let this man near me because he made me feel so uncomfortable but she always let him into the house.

You have done an incredibly courageous thing, I hope you have good people in your life who can support you. Please try not to worry about the reaction of your childhood friends, you can only deal with the truth and hopefully if they come forward too, they will get the support they need too.