Emilie's story

This is something I haven’t shared on this level before but I feel like it's time.

In 2010 my life changed forever, I was only 11. My family was falling apart and my parents were going through a nasty divorce. I was living alone with my mother while she was struggling with depression, she took all her anger and frustration out on me.

My mum turned to a family friend Rick, my mum fell in love with him and he was always around. Everyone suspected they were together but no one ever never for sure.

Rick started staying over at my house a lot it was at the point he saw his chance to get me alone and sexually assault me. This went of got 4 years without anyone knowing, he would tell me he loved me and that it was our little secret and that he would marry me when I was of legal age. I knew this to be normal.

It wasn’t until I turned 15 and started learning more about sex and about what was and wasn’t right that I realised what was happening. I panicked and didn’t want to tell anyone because I thought know one would believe me.

I packed up and moved in with my dad to get away from him, but that didn’t stop him trying to get to me. I told him to stay away from me and that I didn’t want him in my life. That didn’t stop him.

Then he got to me again, after a football match he found me and grabbed me and was trying to get to me again but I stopped him and run for my life. It was then I final told someone and that’s where the long and emotional roller coaster ride of the court process started.

DHS and the police interviewed me and told me I had a case but I need to decide if I was going to go forward with it. That was one of the hardest decisions I ever made but I didn’t want him to get away with and hurt someone else.

Going through everything he did to me in finer detail almost killed me, I tried to hurt myself so many time and ended up in the mental health unit for 2 weeks because it was all to much to handle.

Finally after 2 years of little court dates and meeting the big one come along.

September 2015 I got on the stand in front of the man who changed my life and told my side of what happened, I got everything thrown at me. They tried to use my mental health status against me and tried to use my family against me and even told me it was my fault.

I was 11 he was 35, I think about it everyday and wonder if I could of stopped him.

Finally the court case came to a close and I won I had beaten him, finally I felt like everyone would see what he had done and I could move on but it wasn’t that simple.

The same week that all this happened I lost my grandmother and my world felt like it was falling apart day by day. It was so hard to get up in the morning and continue with life. Mentally and physically I was exhausted and over everything I had been through. I haven’t even turned 18 yet but I felt like I was an adult dealing with this and felt like I didn’t have a chance to live me childhood out like a normal child.

4 years later and I’m still living the nightmare of being a victim, in the last year he has been following me and destroying my life in a new way. Yet I’m still here, I’m alive and I get ho every morning and do my best to live life to the fullest.

I want to help young women going through the same thing I have been through, I want to use my pain to help other and I feel like you page is the way to do that.

I would like to thank you for coming up with this page and helping us. Love Emilie x