Achild sex abuse victim has revealed how a nun who repeatedly raped him when he was 12 years old and living in a church-run home went on to have his baby.Edward Hayes was abused for almost three years during his time at the John Reynolds Home in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, which was then run by Catholic nuns from the order of the Franciscan Missionaries of St Joseph.Mr Hayes, now a 76-year-old grandfather who lives in Carlisle, has bravely waived his right to anonymity to reveal that he was raped by 27-year-old Irish nun Sister Mary Conleth during his time at the home during the 1950s.Mr Hayes was just 10 years old, and known as Billy, when he was taken to the home.Having grown up poor and neglected and suffering from malnutrition, arriving at the home initially appeared to be a blessing.He said: 'It was nice to be somewhere warm, where I was eating food and having hot baths.My first years there created some great memories for me.'I was a great student, I sang in the choir, I could read perfect Latin and playing football - even being touted by local football clubs.' This changed when Irish nun Sister Mary Conleth arrived a couple of years later.She worked in the laundry room and asked for Mr Hayes' assistance.Mr Hayes was regularly left on his own with Sister Conleth, giving her access to him daily.He said: 'I had barely started work in the laundry when it happened.I was still twelve.She'd pull my trousers down, push me to the floor and lay on top of me.'She would pull her habit up and she had no pants on.She'd talk dirty to me.I would not let her kiss me.I thought babies were made by men kissing women.' By the time he was 14, Mr Hayes was even allocated his own room - something unheard of at the home.The reason for the perk soon became apparent when Sister Conleth started paying him visits after lights out.The abuse came to an end in April 1956 after the nun declared she was pregnant.Mr Hayes said: 'At the time I didn't even understand how I got her pregnant because I never kissed her.We were more naïve back then.' The nun was sent back to Ireland to live with her sister, while Mr Hayes was banished from the home after Christmas 1956.He was then adopted by another family and began his chaotic adult life where he became an alcoholic by the time he was 21.Mr Hayes got married and had two children but his marriage soon failed.He went into the Army and served in the Royal Artillery, but left five years later in 1969 after developing an ulcer, as a result of his drinking, and was given a medical discharge.Mr Hayes said: 'I couldn't ever settle, every single day I thought about the abuse, I started drinking to try to blot everything out.I never told anybody what happened to me, not even my wife.' It was only in 1998 that Mr Hayes, who worked as a printer after leaving the Army, started another journey - this time a long and arduous road to justice.He said: 'I read an article about a Catholic Church abuse survivor and thought, 'I'm going to speak out,
30 сен 2024
