Judd says that every child should have someone they feel they can trust to talk to
All names and identifying details have been changed.
Participants have given us permission to share their experiences.
Judd’s young mother could not cope with her children.
Neglected and vulnerable, he was subjected to sexual abuse by several men.
Judd’s mother gave birth to him when she was 15, and she had several more children after him.
She drank heavily and he spent most of his childhood in care or living with relatives.
He and his friends used to hang around at a local leisure centre. A man called Julian began grooming them, buying them drinks and snacks. Judd says that Julian ‘took a shine’ to him and two others, and he started inviting them round to his house, but one at a time.
On these visits, Julian told Judd to masturbate him and would give him cigarettes and money in exchange. Judd was 11 when this abuse began.
The abuse continued for a few years. Sometimes Julian took him to stay in bed and breakfasts for weekends, and gave him more cigarettes and money.
Judd started truanting from his secondary school. When he was about 13 he was put into care and sent to an approved school. He didn’t know why he was there, or how long it would be for. He did have a social worker, but says ‘she never told me anything’ and adds that ‘she always smelt of weed’.
During the night, a staff member at the approved school used to come into the dormitories. He would select boys, take them to his office and make them masturbate him in exchange for cigarettes. This happened about three times a week.
Judd was targeted for similar abuse by another adult male who worked in a different school. The abuse stopped after he left the home when he was 15.
Julian had been sent to prison, but when he was released he contacted Judd and continued sexually abusing him. The abuse included attempted rape. He also took indecent photographs of Judd.
Judd has abused drugs, including heroin and prescription drugs. In his late 20s he was sent to prison for supplying drugs. After he was released he got support to help him overcome his drug addiction. He moved to live abroad, which he says is ‘the best thing I ever did’.