Ref. 26738-18A SWINDON woman who suffered sexual abuse as a child has given an insight into the mental torture Leanne White probably endured before she jumped from the roof of the Brunel Centre car park.

Leanne, 29, jumped from the car park on Monday, and her husband Gary believes it was because she was living in fear of her abuser George Davison.

Karen Warner, of Secret's Out, which helps women victims of childhood sexual abuse, said Leanne would have been haunted each day by memories of Davison

As reported in the Advertiser yesterday , Davison could be released as early as next year from his 15-year sentence imposed in 1996 for rape and indecent assault on 13 girls.

Karen, who was abused at the age of 11, said: "I know how desperate you can get. I can understand her having this fear of him coming out because she would not have felt safe anymore," she said.

"I feel safer as long as I know where my abuser is. I don't go into town much because I might bump into him."

"To look into that person's eyes again would be like Hell."

"They have taken a part of you and they know that they have."

"The main thing is that there is not the help out there that there needs to be. Often your doctor will refer you for counselling, but that takes time. There doesn't seem to be anywhere you can get help immediately."

Secret's Out, has been running for 13 years and used to be known as the Friday Club, but decided on a name change to reflect the work it does and raise its profile in Swindon.

Karen explained that few people knew of the existence of the group, which was entirely funded by donations.

She only found out about it when she was feeling so depressed that she went to the Well Woman Centre for someone to talk to and was put in touch.

Secret's Out provides professional counselling in group sessions, but is also starting a new buddy system to give women support between the courses.

Karen said it was an important resource helping women to realise they were not alone in their suffering.

"Very often as an abuse victim you go through life feeling very alone.

"You need to see people and speak to people who have been through the same thing."

Having gone through one of the 12-week courses she had felt able to deal with what had happened to her and move on.

"Your heart is so much lighter afterwards. You have been weighed down for so long, but they give you the strength to live with what has happened and I think that, over the years, you get stronger and stronger."

"You feel as though the person who abused you has got one over on you and you still owe them some loyalty," said Karen.

"The sessions open your eyes to the fact that life is worth living, that there are people in your family you can look to for support and that your abuser isn't worth any loyalty."

The group, which can be reached through the Well Woman Centre in Milton Road, was recently given a £3,000 grant by the Wiltshire Community Trust, along with donations from Sainsburys, Honda and Threadneedle.

Keeping tabs on offenders

POLICE and the Probation Service operate a Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements scheme to monitor dangerous offenders in communities.

Wiltshire has 469 offenders in the scheme, 255 of whom are registered sex offenders.

Under the arrangements, those offenders who pose the most risk are referred to a Multi Agency Public Protection Panel for the closest supervision and there are at present 50 in Wiltshire.

Earlier this week, Phil Smith, Assistant Chief Officer for Wiltshire Probation Area, said the organisation was in the business of public protection.

"For over five years we have had multi-agency collaborative arrangements in place for the joint assessment and management of individuals deemed to pose a significant risk of harm to the public.

"A co-ordinated approach makes perfect sense and is the keystone to protection through partnership,"Mr Smith said.