Finding the courage to speak out against sexual abuse, only to have your voice ignored

After decades of contemplating troubling events he witnessed as a child, a man in his 50s decided to report the sexual abuse he believes he saw to gardaí. However, they never followed up, leaving agencies 'baffled' that no investigation took place

Anne Scully, manager of the Rape Crisis Centre in Waterford, has criticised gardaí for their handling of the attempted disclosure in this case. Picture: Noel Browne

WARNING: Some readers may find the following report upsetting

"We all came from broken backgrounds," says Luke (not his real name), describing the life he knew in Waterford City in the early 1980s. "We had no bathrooms in our house. The toilets were outdoors.