I was sexually assaulted by my ‘friend’ at 13 as I played at his house – then I found out he & his brother attacked more

HEART pounding, Kaitlin Womack felt waves of revulsion successful the pit of her tummy arsenic the constabulary mugshot flashed up connected her Facebook feed.   

It was the photograph of a antheral she knew acold excessively good and the horrifying trauma the monster had enactment her done erstwhile she was aged 9 abruptly came flooding back. 

The antheral was kid sex offender Kert Birtwistle and seeing his look connected her surface horrified the 25-year-old who had been harbouring her ain atrocious concealed astir him for astir a decade.

Birtwistle was Kaitlin's erstwhile neighbour and erstwhile she was nine, he'd subjected her to 3 intersexual assaults portion she played astatine his house, including touching her vagina nether her swimming costume.  

Kaitlin, from Preston, Lancs, recalls: “The maltreatment affected my beingness successful truthful galore ways.  

“I struggled with crippling anxiousness and depression arsenic a teenager. I self-harmed to numb the pain. 

“I suffered successful soundlessness for truthful long.”

Now, Kaitlin, and works successful insurance, is courageously waiving her close to anonymity to assistance promote different survivors to study their abusers to the police.   

She says: “They ne'er merit to locomotion the streets again.   

“I anticipation that my communicative volition promote different imaginable victims to travel forward.”   

Growing up, Kaitlin was neighbours with Birtwistle, and they went to the aforesaid superior school.

Though Birtwistle was 4 years older, helium often invited Kaitlin and different children from the neighbourhood to his house, though she was not peculiarly bully friends with him. 

Kaitlin remembers: “He lived successful the biggest location connected the property and his household were truly nice.   

"I saw Kert arsenic cool. Loads of america would spell determination for parties and to play successful the garden."   

In 2007, aged seven, Kaitlin attended a meal nine astatine schoolhouse and Birtwistle, past 11, happened to beryllium determination too.

Kaitlin recalls: “I was lasting astatine the meal table, looking to take a cereal, erstwhile Kert came up to me. 

“With nary teachers around, helium asked maine what my favourite connection for vagina was. I told him I wasn’t sure. After all, I was lone successful twelvemonth three.   

“But helium wouldn’t permission it and went connected to archer maine his ‘favourite’ word. I don’t retrieve what helium said, I conscionable retrieve feeling truly embarrassed.”

Time progressed, and successful 2009, aged nine, Kaitlin went to Birtwistle’s location for a day enactment wherever tons of others attended.   

Kaitlin explains: “Me and Kert were jumping connected the bouncy castle, and helium picked maine up.   

“With 1 manus connected my hip, helium enactment his different nether my skirt and touched my privates. 

"No 1 could spot us. I felt truly uneasy." 

After a while, Birtwistle threw Kaitlin onto the level of the castle and carried connected with the enactment similar thing had happened, leaving Kaitlin feeling confused.  

Months later, she was astatine Birtwistle’s location again wherever a radical of kids played fell and seek.   

Shed horror

Birtwistle told Kaitlin to fell successful a shed with him and 1 of his friends.   

Kaitlin says: “He sat maine connected his thigh and told maine to beryllium quiet.   

“Then helium enactment his manus up my skirt and fondled maine down below.”   

Meanwhile, Birtwistle's person didn’t accidental a word.    

When helium yet fto Kaitlin go, helium passed her to his friend, who was sitting opposite. It's unclear what happened to this child.

Kaitlin remembers: “He told maine to unfastened my legs. I was lone wearing a skirt, truthful my underwear would beryllium connected show. But I did arsenic helium said.   

“He stared astatine my privates until we were recovered by different child.”   

Kaitlin was near wondering if Birtwistle’s actions were normal.   

But, inactive truthful young and naive, she decided to spot him and enactment it to the backmost of her mind.   

Until a mates of months aboriginal erstwhile Kaitlin and immoderate different children the aforesaid ages were successful Birtwistle’s garden.   

She says: “It was a hot, summer’s day, truthful they had a paddling pool up and retired of nowhere, Kert picked maine up.   

“He moved my swimming costume to 1 broadside and touched maine down there. I screamed for him to get off, and helium fto spell consecutive away.”   

"Another kid said to maine 'I saw what helium conscionable did.'”   

Horrified, Kaitlin went consecutive location and stopped going to Birtwistle’s house.  

She says: “I thought I’d done thing wrong, for years, I blamed myself.”   

It wasn't until Kaitlin was 13 and learnt astir sex education astatine schoolhouse she realised she’d been abused.  

Still, she convinced herself that it was excessively precocious to archer anyone what had happened.   

Instead, she tried to hide Birtwistle's abuse, but passim her teenage years, Kaitlin struggled.   

She recalls: “I suffered terribly with anxiousness and depression, and I self-harmed.

"Keeping his maltreatment to myself was torture. 

“Noticing a alteration successful my behaviour, my parents asked if determination was thing I needed to archer them.   

“But I couldn't bring myself to.”   

It was successful 2016 erstwhile Kaitlin spotted his look successful a paper nonfiction connected Facebook.   

Birtwistle, past 20, on with 2 others, had been jailed for kid enactment offences which had taken spot successful 2014, erstwhile helium was 18. 

Monster jailed

Kaitlin says: “I felt sick. Seeing his look brought everything back.   

“But seeing him jailed validated however I was feeling, and I was truthful pleased that helium was disconnected the streets.   

“It made maine privation to study him too, but I inactive wasn’t ready.”   

Shortly aft seeing his face, Kaitlin, past 17, broke down and confessed what had happened to her parents.   

She says: “They were truthful supportive and said they'd beryllium by my broadside if and erstwhile I wanted to study him.”   

'I americium a survivor'

In 2019, with Birtwistle inactive down bars, Kaitlin yet felt acceptable to stock what he'd enactment her through.   

She explains: "After years of chaos, I was successful a unchangeable narration and determined to tackle my problems caput on. 

"I submitted an online signifier to the police, but successful the backmost of my caput I inactive thought thing would travel of it due to the fact that truthful galore years had passed.”   

A mates of weeks later, a Lancashire Police serviceman rang Kaitlin, inviting her into the presumption to springiness a statement.   

Kaitlin says: “A period aft that, I returned to springiness a video interview.   

“I felt truthful believed, and relieved to yet get everything retired successful the open.”   

An investigation got underway but it was 2 years earlier Kaitlin received a missive from the police, confirming that Birtwistle and his brother, Jordan Wright, 30, had been arrested for dozens of intersexual offences.   

Kaitlin says: “I'd ne'er adjacent heard of Jordan.

“I past discovered, pursuing my report, that six different victims had travel guardant and revealed the brace had abused them.

“I couldn’t judge it.”   

Justice served

Finally, In October this year, Birtwistle, 29, from Blackpool, Lancs, was convicted of 14 charges, including rape and intersexual battle astatine Preston Crown Court.

He was jailed for 12 years.

His brother, Wright, of nary fixed address,  pleaded blameworthy to 18 intersexual offences and was jailed for much than 16 years.  

But Kaitlin says her abuser has ne'er shown immoderate remorse.

She says: “Kert wasn’t remorseful astatine all. No magnitude of clip volition ever marque up for what I went through.   

“Every day, I unrecorded with carnal and intelligence scars. But I garbage to fto his actions dictate my life.   

“I americium a survivor.”