Part 3 of The Record They Buried – And the Woman Who Survived It

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They wrote about her but never asked her. They documented her pain but never listened to it. They filled over 1,000 pages and still missed the point.

This time, she gets to speak for herself.

This is Catherine, known as Kerry, in her own words. For the first time, she has answered the questions no social worker, no judge, no official ever truly asked. Not to understand. Not to help. Not to believe.

These are her answers. Unfiltered. Undeniable.

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1. Can you remember what happened the first time you tried to tell someone what was going on?
“I was made out to be a liar. I begged a social worker not to say anything — but she disclosed it to my abuser.”

2. Did you ever try to tell professionals what was happening to you?
“Yes.”

3. Do you remember anything happening that was never written down?
“Kerry was beaten. Food was withdrawn. She was beaten with objects — she remembers this from age 6. Kerry was made to sleep in an armchair in her own urine. She didn’t have a bed. Was often made to stay awake overnight etc. One night, Kerry was tired after her chores. She fell asleep in the chair. Her mother returned home and hit Kerry in the face with a Pyrex dish. She still has the scar.”

Kerry was sexually abused — more than once, by multiple people, on multiple occasions.

4. Did they ever write things that weren’t true — or twist your words?
“One night, her mother sent Kerry out to walk the dog with a man who sexually assaulted her. When they got back to the house, her mother questioned what happened. She told her mother — and her mother beat ‘the living crap out of her’.”

5. Were you ever punished or blamed after speaking up?
“Yes.”

6. Did anyone protect the abusers instead of you?
“Yes.”

7. Is there a moment that still sticks with you — when you begged for help and no one listened?
“It made me realise I had nowhere to go, no one to turn to, nobody to save me.”

8. How did it feel reading what they wrote about you in your records?
“Makes no sense to Kerry. She said parts were emotional.”

9. What did it do to you, knowing you were never believed or protected?
“I thought I’d been kidnapped as a child because of the abuse I endured. I believed my real parents maybe couldn’t afford a ransom.”

10. Did that change how you saw the world — or yourself?
“Yes.”

11. Were you ever able to trust anyone after that?
“As a child, no. But I learnt to trust somewhat after.”

12. What helped you survive?
“I believe God, because he would never repeat what I’d said to anybody who could hurt me.”

13. What’s happening with your grandson now?
“Even worse than my own barbaric experience. I feel he feels abandoned and failed by us.”

14. How does it feel watching it all happen again — but being powerless this time?
“Absolutely f*cking devastating.”

15. Do you feel like you’re shouting into the same void as before?
“Absolutely.”

16. What would you say to the professionals involved in his case — if you could speak freely?
“They haven’t learned anything in all these years and still disbelieve me after everything I experienced.”

17. Why do you want your story told?
“I want people to be believed — and be protected from abusers. Especially when the evidence is there.”

18. What do you want people to know that was never said back then?
“Put structures and resources into schools for children to have access to real help!”

19. If you could speak to your younger self, what would you say?
“I’d tell her she’s strong. She’s a warrior. She will handle all obstacles.”

20. What would justice look like for you now?
“Stopping it happening again — to my grandson.”

21. If someone else is going through this today, what would you want them to hear from you?
“Keep speaking your truth until you are believed. We need to believe children when they speak out — and protect them from the abusers.”

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She was never given the mic.
But when she spoke, the truth still broke through.

This is Kerry’s truth. And it’s time the system listened.

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Part 4 coming next: The Grandmother Who Can’t Save Him