When Sherry was fourteen years old she made friends with a boy whom we shall call David who was seventeen. David and Sherry seemed to get on well with each other until one day Sherry came home very upset and crying after being out all day with David. Sherry announced to me that her relationship with David was over and she would never see him again. This being a familiar tale that most parents of teenagers hear, I asked if David had hurt her in any way and then when she assured me he had not I comforted her best I could and thought no more of it.

Just how wrong can you be! This one time in Sherry's life seems to have been the trigger for her mental health problems. Sherry could not bring herself to tell me she had been raped that day! I only got to know about it after she confided in staff during one of her hospital visits. Sherry was never quite the same girl after that day and I did not get to know for three years.