William Roache & historical sex abuse cases
EVE THOMAS - Mum, Author, Campaigner, Tiny Peacefighter, Survivor!
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William Roache & historical sex abuse cases

Hi everyone

Where do I start?

A few weeks ago I was watching Sky News when William Roache's face appeared, what followed left me sick to my stomach.

Victim blaming is wrong, very wrong and I was angry at this man's ignorance.  I watched the interview over and over again, his body language, eye contact etc and when I went to bed that night I knew that it was only a matter of time before yet another victim came forward.

As a survivor you develop a 6th sense and my senses were on high alert and so I wrote a personal invitation to Mr Roache offering him the hand of friendship and also the opportunity to educate himself, he never replied...............

Yesterday William Roache was arrested and charged with raping a schoolgirl in 1967.  His innocent fifteen year old victim has lived with this rape for 45 years!!!!!!

Many people have asked why these victims have taken so long to come forward, the answer is simple - abuse used to be frowned upon, swept under the carpet and went on behind closed doors but the changes in our justice and legal systems have changed all that and I feel that we are only seeing the tip of this large scale problem.

Today the press have been allowed to report on something that has been kept silent for a month, WHY???  Why have the press been prevented from reporting on the guilty pleas that Stuart Hall made?  Why hasn't the world been privy to this information before now? Why has a rapist been protected?  Now there may be some other explanation for this but the only one I can possibly thing of that is worthy of keeping this quiet is that it was for the benefit of his victims.  I hope so!

Now back to Mr Roache - I've been reading the Daily Mail and I have to draw attention to what a "local" said - "What's he been up to?  It's all rubbish, he's a lovely man."  Sorry but this again is victim blaming and WRONG!  I just hope that the person who said this to the reporter from the Daily Mail is ashamed of the words they have spoken!

I am going to finish this blog though with something much more positive, Lancashire Police's comments to the media - "We take all allegations of sexual abuse extremely seriously and would encourage people with any information about sexual abuse, or anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse, to come forward and report their concerns confident in the knowledge they will be investigated appropriately and with sensitivity."

I have a great deal of respect for the police but Lancashire's handling of the Roache case has been awesome - arrested and charged within 12 hours! Result!

I know it has been 45 years since this alleged rape took place but I can guarantee that this woman will have thought about it every day since and I can only imagine her distress at having to see her rapists face on the TV three times a week.

Yes innocent until proven guilty but I've been there with the CPS, it's very difficult to get them to take a case to trial unless there is more than sufficient evidence!

Eve x

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