Johnnie thinks it would be easier for him to report being sexually abused in ‘today’s world’
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
Johnnie was adopted in the 1940s by a childless couple.
It is not clear what, if any, checks were made on the adoptive parents, but the father sexually abused Johnnie for several years.
Johnnie was born during the Second World War. His parents were very poor and they already had a large family. He thinks they must have been ‘overwhelmed’ with so many children, and they gave Johnnie and his sister up for adoption.
The two children were adopted by a couple who were also poor. The couple had no children of their own, but after they adopted, they went on to have several.
Johnnie was nine years old when his adoptive father first sexually abused him. He shared a bed with one of his adoptive brothers and he clearly recalls being woken by his adoptive father carrying the brother out of the bed. His father then got into bed with Johnnie and started touching his genitals.
The man then made Johnnie touch and masturbate him. Johnnie says he did not understand what was happening at the time. His adoptive father continued sexually abusing him regularly over the following four years.
The abuse happened every time Johnnie was home alone with his father, and over time, it escalated to include oral sex and rape. Sometimes his father would pretend to be play-fighting and would sexually abuse him in front of other people.
On one occasion, Johnnie’s father pulled him into bed and his mother came into the room. He says she seemed shocked but she didn’t say anything.
He describes his adoptive parents as ‘not very bright’ and he thinks his mother probably had no idea about child sexual abuse or even homosexuality. He adds that he didn’t understand he was being sexually abused; at first he thought it might be ‘what all parents do’.
Johnnie says he thought about telling a teacher what was happening to him, but he was worried about what would happen to his family if he did.
The abuse stopped when Johnnie was 13 or 14.
Johnnie worries that his siblings may also have been sexually abused by their father – ‘Did it happen to all of them, and do they all keep it quiet?’ he asks. He had never told anyone that he was sexually abused until he shared his experience with the Truth Project.
He feels that if the abuse had happened to him in the present day, he would feel more confident in talking to someone about it, and would feel safer going to the police.
Johnnie has tried to engage in counselling about his abuse but says he found it ‘too emotional … and overwhelming’ and could not continue.
He is married. He has traced his birth family and he says that getting to know them has given him ‘an element of completeness’.