Elora says ‘I don’t like the word victim … you’re a survivor and you should be proud of yourself’
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After Elora’s father died, a teacher took advantage of her grief, and emotionally and sexually abused her.
As an adult, she found the strength to report him and bring him to justice.
Elora attended a private religious school from the age of nine until she was 16. It was a strict, evangelical Christian establishment where bullying and corporal punishment were frequent occurrences.
She adds that it was very small with a ‘We are all one family’ ethos, and several of the staff were related by birth or marriage. ‘With hindsight, it was bordering on a cult’ she says.
When Elora was in her early teens, her father died suddenly. When she went back to school, one of the teachers, Mr Casey, was particularly kind and attentive towards her.
Elora says that she and many of the other girls had ‘a crush’ on Mr Casey; he was good looking and charming. She says ‘He was lovely to me, which I now see was grooming … I think after my father died he saw the word “victim” written on my forehead’.
It was not long before Mr Casey started sexually abusing Elora. It began with hugging, then he kissed her on the lips and told her he would teach her how to kiss ‘properly’. Over the next few years he touched her sexually and got her to do the same to him.
Elora says ‘I was in his thrall; I adored and worshipped him. I thought he loved me – he told me he did, but when I look back it was a power thing’.
She explains that he made her buy ‘sexy clothing’, he isolated her from her friends, and made her feel loved. She continues ‘Two days later he would ignore me’. He also mocked and humiliated her in front of other pupils, often criticising her body shape.
Despite this behaviour, Elora still believed Mr Casey loved her. ‘I just wanted to please him’ she says.
She says that at the time she never thought of telling anyone.
After Elora left school and started work, she heard that other girls in the school had had similar experiences with Mr Casey, and she decided to report him to the school. The senior staff she spoke to had family connections with the abuser.
She comments ‘They wanted the whole thing to go away’ but in fact Mr Casey admitted the abuse and was sacked.
Elora was not ready to go to the police at that stage. She wrote to the Department for Education, but their response was unhelpful.
Soon after this, Elora says ‘My life began to fall apart’. She started drinking heavily at home and work. The eating disorder she had developed during the abuse became worse and she attempted suicide.
She left her professional job and after struggling for a time, she got counselling that she says was ‘the start of the turnaround’. She adds that she read a lot about the impacts of child sexual abuse, and how women who have been abused often ‘punish’ themselves.
Elora made a fresh start and got a new job. She then discovered via social media that Mr Casey was abroad working with children. ‘I lost it’ she says, and she started drinking again and attempted suicide.
Again, Elora found the strength to recover. ‘I thought I wanted justice for me and all the other women’ she says. She reported Mr Casey to the police.
Elora praises the kindness and professionalism of the female officer she dealt with, but Elora was the one who tracked the abuser down abroad and told the police where to find him.
The allegations were investigated and Mr Casey returned to the UK to face trial. He was convicted without Elora having to give evidence in court. She says the judge was ‘wonderful’, took account of her impact statement and gave Mr Casey the maximum sentence possible.
Elora still relies on counselling and she would like to see more funding for therapy and support for all victims. She suggests that there should be an umbrella organisation for victims and survivors that works with the police and health services to ensure a consistent response for everyone.
She also questions the effect that anonymity has for victims and survivors. ‘I understand why it’s needed’ she says, ‘but I almost wish it wasn’t because it’s as if you have something to be ashamed about’.