Victim refuses to meet abuser

A sex abuse victim has refused to meet a family member who avoided a jail term for abusing her when she was seven.

Earlier this month, Judge Patrick McCartan asked the victim to consider meeting John Carvin, 45, under the Restorative Justice Programme before he passed sentence. The victim, now aged 20, is the stepdaughter of Carvin’s brother.

Carvin was convicted last April of sexually assaulting the then seven-year-old after coming into her bed late at night on dates between October 2000 and February 2001. He was acquitted of sexually assaulting her on two other occasions.