We read about the sentencing of people who abuse children…it is debated in many arenas…but what we don’t hear about is the scale and the individual cost of this lack of a thing called ‘justice’. I am disgusted at the sentences I hear being handed down to the perpetrators of such crimes. The information on this page is all directly from survivors I come into contact with. These are survivors of sexual abuse who live with the in-justice every day and this page is a voice for them and for their in-justice to be shared…to be heard…to be made public.

We need CHANGE and we need it NOW

Survivors experiences of ‘justice’ in court houses all over the world…

 

“My abuse began when I was 8 years old and stopped when I was 16…my abuser received a police caution. My brothers were abused by a family ‘friend’ and he has never been brought to justice over it”

“Abuse = 30 years Sentence = never went to court”

“Mine went on for 11 years by different people and intensity from 6 to 17. I’ve only gone as far as calling the police and because they said it was historic they didn’t want to know, so no-one has been sentenced”

“I thought I would drop you a line about having my step father arrested in January this year. He sexually abused me for 21 years starting at 5 years old and ending when I was 26. I had told my mother about this when I was about 16 but she hit me and blamed me so I stayed quiet for 30 years even though for 10 of those years I was still being abused by him. I had him arrested at the beginning of this year and it went through the police process but the CPS said there was not enough evidence to guarantee a jury would convict him. All that abuse and it took 3 months from start to finish of a police investigation and CPS review to say no case to answer to, I am very bitter about this as I do not feel enough was done and he can now still have access to children to which I know he is a danger”

“Altogether I was abused for 13 years and the sentence given was a pitiful 4.5 years… of which I’m sure you are aware gets reduced with good behaviour and all that rubbish…..I wish that the people who are responsible for these useless lengths of sentencing could spend some time with victims of abuse, and only then will they realise the impact and the damage that child abuse causes, and it is not only at the time of abuse this affects victims but for the rest of their lives”

“In my case, my uncle abused me for over 12 years straight, and then went on to rape my younger cousin for another 8-9 years. He did no time for me, because the statute of limitations had expired, and he did 6 months in the country jail on work release for what he did to my cousin. My abuse started at age 4, and her first rape happened at age 9″

“My abuse lasted 21 years. I didn’t get a conviction, but I healed after my 40th birthday”

“About 15 years of abuse; my abuser got 3 life terms and 125 years in prison.
I’m the exception to the rule though”

“My dad abused me and my sis in childhood.. I caught him out on tape last year after my sis died because of what we went thru and the police saying he could not be reasonably expected to remember what he did all those years ago and closing the case in 2007…the police had the tape analyzed and confirmed it to be him, however they allowed him to continually admit himself into hospital (hosp suspected he was taking laxatives to make himself ill, whilst also suffering from diabetes…he was eventually charged 6 weeks ago with 5 counts of indecency with a child, 5 counts of indecent assault, and 1 of rape, all in respect of myself, they could not charge for my sis, even though it was clear she had been gang raped by him and a paedophile ring…I am devastated”

“I reported mine but didn’t get any further than initial police enquiries and I was told witnesses couldn’t be found so the case was closed, despite me knowing for a fact that the key witness other than me was located (by me, not them because they couldn’t catch a frigging cold!) and they could have taken it further if they’d wanted to. I was made to feel like a piece of dirt and was told I lied to them so it would certainly put me off reporting anything again. Long story really and not much point in going into it as I just get angry!”

“My abuse lasted for 14 years but my father only served 18 months in prison and the remainder 21 months will be on licence”

“My abuser was discovered when I was about 8 or 9, as my sister let it slip. It had been going on for at least 2 years…overtly and without question, covertly or in ways that were just strange and would have been left at that had they not progressed since I can remember. Dept of Children and Family Services was called and came to talk to me. It was very traumatic. My “father” was ordered to undergo counselling and have court supervised visitation. I don’t know how long either of those things happened, but I do remember my mother complaining because he only went to one or two…and I can tell you for a fact that the supervised visits were a joke. They were only supervised for a few visits and by HIS mother who would leave…saying my mother was a lying B***** and my father should get time alone with his kids. The social worker did not come back for a follow up and my mother never even asked. The abuse continued consistently for about 3 or 4 more years until he got married then was sporadic until I was 14 or 15 and I finally said no. I remained under his control, so to speak until I was about 18 or 19 though when he finally disowned me because I moved in with my boyfriend.
So…short answer…actual abuse – about 7-9 years, from age 6 or 7 to age 14 or 15. Including grooming and emotional control…from age 2 until age 18.
His “sentence”… counselling, of which he did not complete and supervised visits, of which the supervisor did not supervise…NOTHING. As far as I know and can tell the police were not involved. Apparently DCFS and my mother did not take that route”

“My -brother- is in jail for 13 years for raping his daughter. He is the nastiest paedophile.
He molested me as a child. When my niece had him arrested, he told the courts he did not want to put his daughter through anything more. LIAR. so he pleaded guilty. He could not have handled the court thing”

“My abuse lasted 3 long years. Went through the police thing even lie detector. He had a ‘fake’ heart attack and they let him go. Plus with a small community he knew all the cops”

“9 years of abuse, 12 years in prison, but he gets off at 10 years for ‘good behaviour’”

“I was adopted through the church by my abusers. I was just 11 months old when l started to live with them, l was then sexually abused at the age of 3 by the father, physically and emotionally abused by both parents, tied naked to a toilet and locked in at the age of 3, abused by one of the male siblings and his friend at age 13, sexually abused by 2 old men from aged 11 to 13. They were seen and one of them got three years in prison, don’t know what happened to the other. I reported the family for all the abuse Two years ago. It took the police six months in between interviewing the aunt and my brother, enough time for them to get their stories straight. It then took them another six months to tell me they couldn’t find any trace of either school or social services records so were not even going to interview the father as he was too old and frail and they didn’t want him to have a heart attack, so they didn’t even take it to the cps, just said there was no case to answer to. So l have had a life sentence and they sit in the land of luxury and the brother runs a guitar school for children as young as 4, I don’t even know if he has a CRB check”

“I was abused from age 0 to 15…Rape, physical abuse mental abuse and spiritual abuse. Also severe military type torture by both parents…my father plea bargained and only served 5 years…my mother signed parental rights over to the state and fled the state…she was facing charges as well but I declined due to the stress that was involved with my fathers trial….she would have served many years in prison also if I would have pushed the issue…I was 15 and had to make all the decisions myself…I was taken advantage of because of my age and was scared into signing a plea bargain.. my father would have probably did life in prison if it would have went to a trial by jury. I think what was done to me was unfair and very unjust.”

“My brother was never prosecuted for molesting me but when I was 19 I was raped by a man who followed me home from church. I did prosecute him and he received a sentence of 4 years of which he only served 2 years, two months. He was arrested Dec.16, 1996 and released Feb. 2, 1999. I was too scared to ever report my brother until it was too late to do anything about it.”

“What I hate is all the ones that either make it to court and are let off or manage not to even have to face arrest. My abuser died when I was 13 and left me without the option of justice.”

“From what I can remember my abuse lasted as follows: Began 3yrs old and ended 11 or 12
Pressed charges, went to see lawyers who “advised” us that we should not go ahead because of the ages of the only 2 of us that could give evidence. Apparently it was due to the statute of limitations in Australia at the time.
Charges were dropped and he told everyone we lied!!!!!”

“1.5 years of molestation of a child under 13
pleaded guilty 6 years in prison and lifetime registered sex offender”