Child Abuse Story From Natasha

by Natasha
(London, England, UK)

Neighbour - Sexual Abuse Hell:  
My life has always been trouble since as young as I can remember. My dad left me and then it was just me my mum and her new partner. Then my little sis came along. We'd been waiting ages to find the right new home, then finally we did. It was a nice flat with 2 people above us (an elderly woman and her son) and below us a friendly couple. Everyone around us were lovely. Well, so I thought.

I was nine and my sis was about 1. After a few years went by, my mum and stepdad became friends with the people above us. The man was 43 and the mum was 63. They were always helping us out. And then for my 13th birthday, I told him I was getting a laptop for school work and stuff. Since I got the laptop, he was always telling me to get the Internet and always offering me help with it when I got stuck. My mum trusted them both, and because his mum was always there, it didn't matter. Well, so we thought.

After a lot of nagging and stuff, we did get the Internet because of how good it sounded. When we did, he told me to take my laptop up to him so he could sort it out. This went on for hours sometimes. I'd get quite fed up of it because that was like my Saturday night gone. And then he'd say, see you same time next week . . . there's loads more virus checks to do on it. I'm not dumb. I know how to do virus checks on it. I just didn't want to be rude. It got a bit weird after a while because when I left in the morning, and he wouldn't be far behind me or a bit in front of me. That was very odd because he never got up early. There was no reason to, apart from his dog, which was lazy! My stepdad started noticing, and said he probably fancied me and stuff. I told him not to be so stupid. But I was getting really worried about it.

Things were going the same for ages. When I got home he'd be online waiting. He'd talk to me about his past and how he only ever had two women in his life, which was weird because he was 43!!! He began to tell me his life story. I listened to him and he listened to me. I didn't see much wrong with it until one day, he had got really close to me. I thought, "Oh no, what's happening?"

Then, on the 4th of October, the whole mess started properly. He said to me, "You know, I have great feelings for you and I know you have the same." To be honest, I saw him as a father figure. I sat there and listened to everything he was saying to me. I tried to blank it all out, but he had his arm around me. I just didn't move an inch. I was in total shock. Someone I trusted and believed in saying all this to me.

We would be online and I would get loads of messages saying, "Nobody can find out about all this or you would be put into care, just like how I was. It's not a nice place," he said! That scared me. It was a nightmare. The worst possible thing ever, I thought.

The next time I spoke to him, he wanted me to go and talk to him face to face. When I got to the door, he started kissing me and more. I just really couldn't believe it. I was frightened that if I told I'd be put in care. I didn't realise his mum went on holiday for a week. That week was the worst. That was his week of freedom from her. He bad-mouthed his family, saying they're nasty, and if his mum found out what was going on, she'd turn on me and make my life hell.

As time went on, I lost all of my friends and hated my family. I did blame them for not realising what was going on. Well, my mum kept asking me why I'd changed so much. I would get home and just go straight in my room on my own and cry all night. I didn't have my own life. It was taken over. Every move I made, it was because of him.

He got nasty. He sexually abused me. Forced me into things I didn't want to do. The way he acted so normal towards my family, it was unreal. People started noticing something wasn't right. People I didn't even know would ask me in the mornings if I was ok because he'd often walk right beside or behind me. The way he forced me to do things I didn't want to do. Some days I could not walk, I was in so much pain because of him. That smile as he saw me in pain was sickening. I'd always get threatened if I didn't shut up. Just not say a word.

Once, I rebelled towards him. I said, "You carry on and I'll run away." He said, "You wouldn't have the guts to because I would find you." When he said that, I thought it would never end. Everything got worse and worse. He dragged me in the bathroom and forced me in the bath. I was so scared. His mum was only in the next room, letting everything happen. It got so bad that I wrote everything out and waited for it to be found by Mum. I went off to school. At break time, I texted him and said "It all ends here. No more, Arthur. No more. I'm free from you." I never did get a reply because by then the police had got him.

In a way, it still carried on. I saw him in town a few times while he was on bail, and he got his friends to threaten me. The worst person was his mum. I got spat on and called abusive names by her. It tore my family apart. I was left with hardly anything, apart from Mum and my sis. My stepdad wanted nothing more to do with me.

Now I'm 14, and I'm proud to call myself a survivor.

Email addresses, phone numbers and home addresses in comments are strictly prohibited.