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My mum is a nurse and my dad isn't around anymore. For ages it was just me, her and my two baby brothers. Then one day she brought a new man into our lives. We called him Uncle John, but I knew that he was really mum's new boyfriend.

At first it was really great. Almost like having a dad again. John was always buying us presents and taking us out places. He let us move into his house and I couldn't remember seeing my mum so happy.

As a nurse, my mum sometimes had to work nights. When she wasn't around John would be in charge of putting us to bed. It was one of those nights that it happened for the first time.

Sometimes I caught John looking at me strangely, but it wasn't often and anyway I was just glad that our family was finally back on track. I was really pleased when John popped the question to mum, and she said yes.

"He looked at me strangely..."

Then one night I was getting changed for bed when I looked up and saw John was standing in the doorway. He said he had come to tuck me in, but I said that it was ok. I wasn't a baby and I could do it myself. He shut the door and came in anyway.

The first time he touched me I was really confused, I didn't really know that what he was doing was wrong. But I knew I didn't want him to do it again.

He told me that it was our secret and that mum didn't need to know about it. He had that weird look in his eyes and it frightened me, so I never said anything. I never said anything even when he started to come up to my room most nights, mum was so happy and I worried that I would spoil things for her.

I couldn't sleep and I wasn't comfortable in my own home. Memories of things that John would do and say were always coming into my head. I cuoldn't concentrate at school and I didn't feel like telling my friends about it so they stopped talking to me.

Eventually I was so depressed that I started to cut myself. The pain of the cuts helped me forget about John.

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Luckily a friend's big sister noticed the cuts on my arm one day at school. She took me off to give me a good talking to, telling me that cutting myself was just stupid.

As I was talking to her I broke down and told her everything. She was really shocked, but she handled it really well.

She told me that I had to tell my mum about John because what he was doing was evil and unfair.

I was terrified. I didn't think mum would want to hear. But I went home, waited until I was sure John wasn't in, and I told her everything.

"I told her everything..."

She started to cry, and held me really tightly. I think she was in shock or something.

Then she went mental. John came home and she started shouting at him and throwing things. I hid upstairs.

He was shouting back at her and then I heard a crack and a scream, John had hit my mum.

She came running upstairs and yelled at me and my brothers to pack. She had a cut over her eye and she was white as a ghost. We took what we could and then we legged it.

We had to stay in a hostel for a while. Mum made me tell the police all about what John had did. To be honest I don't know what's going to happen about it cos we never talk about him now unless we have to.

All I would say to girls out there is that if a man touches you and it makes you feel uncomfortable you should tell someone. It's not your fault what is happening so don't be scared and speak out.