A WOMAN has relived her hell of being groped under a blanket by her dad’s best mate at a family Christmas party. Leanne Truesdale bravely waived her anonymity to tell her horrifying story of abuse at the hands of a family friend. The 37-year-old told the Sun Online she was just seven when she was […]
A WOMAN has relived her hell of being groped under a blanket by her dad’s best mate at a family Christmas party.
Leanne Truesdale bravely waived her anonymity to tell her horrifying story of abuse at the hands of a family friend.
The 37-year-old told the Sun Online she was just seven when she was assaulted as her family danced to festive songs metres away.
Leanne, from Northern Ireland, said: “George was my dad’s closest friend and he was supposed to protect me.
“Instead, he abused me and robbed my childhood.
“I want other survivors to know, please reach out to someone if you haven’t already and find the peace you deserve.”
William George Oliver, now 68, got no jail time after being found guilty of sexually abusing Leanne – instead he was given a three-year suspended sentence in August 2019.
Following his conviction, she recalled how his abuse left her in tears on Christmas Day 1988.
Leanne said: “My family and mum’s friends were singing, dancing and pulling crackers.
“Suddenly, George appeared and asked me to sit on his lap while he sat on a chair in the middle of the living room.
George was my dad’s closest friend and he was supposed to protect me. Instead, he abused me and robbed my childhood.
Leanne Truesdale
“Reluctantly, I did. George then put a blanket over our legs and slipped his hand into my underwear.
“While everyone continued to party around us, George fondled me. My mum was just metres away.
“I wanted to scream for help but instead I froze.
“Afterwards I escaped to my bedroom in a flood of tears.”
The youngster had first been introduced to the predator aged five the year before.
Months later, in May 1987, George started babysitting her once a week while her parents went out.
Leanne revealed: “As soon as they left, George crept towards my bed.
“He kept repeating: ‘I promise I won’t hurt you’. I didn’t understand what was happening.
“Afterwards he said if I told anyone, Mum and Dad wouldn’t come home alive. I was terrified.”
During the next year the weekly abuse continued, until a week after the horrifying Christmas party, when Leanne and her mum moved away and she didn’t see George again.
After recovering from alcoholism in 2016, she confessed what had happened to her dad and reported George to the cops.
After he was convicted, Leanne said: “Although George didn’t go to prison, I was still so happy.
“I found out he had cancer so he was already suffering enough.
“I was just relieved people believed me.
“Now, I’m trying to move forward with my life and be the best mum to my 10-year-old daughter, Eva.
“I also have my dad, who has been there for me through everything.
“Now every Christmas, I try not to think about what that monster did to me.
“Instead, I smile for my little girl and give her a special day.”
