‘It’s as if he got away with it’: how a loophole can leave child abusers walking free in England and Wales

Lucy' was groomed by a friend's father, who admitted he had sex with her when she was 14, but could not be charged

Lucy (not her real name) was groomed by her friend's father, who was 22 years older than her, and he began sexually abusing her at the age of 13. When she was 15, she became pregnant and had an abortion. She said when the abuse took place in the 1980s, because of her age she did not realise that it was wrong and her parents were concerned about the effect that reporting it would have on their family.

Now aged 51, she still struggles to come to terms with what happened and has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression. It was only when she began therapy that she began to come to terms with the abuse and made the decision, last year, to contact the police. She was also persuaded to act by the death of her parents, which meant that she no longer had to worry that speaking out would distress them. And she was being harassed by the partner of the perpetrator, who lived close by.