Nicola's Story
For nearly 20 years, I have been silenced from speaking about my foster brother who repeatedly raped me when I was 12 years old.
After speaking to the team at Masked Truth, I finally have the confidence to speak out and let the world know the truth about the monsters who ruined my life.
Kevin Mcintyre, repeatedly raped and sexually assaulted me at the foster home, where I was meant to feel safe.
My foster Mother Mary Mcintyre, mentally abused me and protected her son from the justice I desperately deserved.
When I was 9 years old (2002), me and my brother, Bobby were placed into the foster care of Mary and Martin Mcintyre in Inverkiething, Fife.
They had a son Kevin John Mcintyre, who was 6 years older than me. When I met him for the first time he seemed so genuine and caring, he called me his "little sister".
Over the next few years of my life, Kevin meticulously groomed me. It started with simple games of truth and dare and Kevin would touch and grope me, this escalated to Kevin repeatedly vaginally and anally raping me and forcing me to perform acts of oral sex on him.
Between the ages of 12 and 13 (2005-2006), Kevin raped me on at least 6 occassions and sexually assaulted almost every single day.
I remember Kevin calling me downstairs to the dining room, that was his designated bedroom and raping me. I remember the pain and fear. I remember the smells and the sounds.
I distinctly remember on one occassion his own mother Mary shouting at him to get me out of his bed when she caught us together but never once did she ask me if I was okay or if I needed help.
I was so scared to tell anyone, Mary was a vindictive and evil women who would mentally abuse me. She controlled and manipulated every aspect of my life, she would do random "time checks" and if I was even 30 seconds late punish me with mental torture and mental abuse.
I was terrified of what would happen if I told anyone, I was scared that Mary would hurt me and that no one would believe me. I was so ashamed and embarrassed, I thought it was my fault. I felt so alone and trapped in a nightmare that I couldn't escape from. I was terrified of Kevin and Mary, they were monsters who had complete control over my life.
Eventually, when I was 18 years old (2011), after moving out of the foster home, I finally found the courage to tell someone about the abuse.
I told the Police who conducted a 7 hour video recorded interview. They collected text messages and evidence from my phone. For months, I was waiting for the case to proceed.
Kevin was arrested and charged with raping me. I was so relieved that I finally had the chance to get justce and then I was told that the case was being dropped because of my mental health. I was diagnosed with PTSD and depression and the COPFS told me that I was unfit to give evidence in court.
I was devastated, I felt like I had been silenced all over again. I was so angry and frustrated, I wanted to scream and shout but I felt so powerless. I was left feeling like a victim all over again, like my voice didn't matter.
I know what happened to me, I know that Kevin repeatedly raped me and his family protected him. I know that I am not alone and there are so many other survivors that have been silenced and abused just like me.
To share your story please contact our team via www.maskedtruth.co.uk
Jodie's Story
Been waiting four years to be able to speak my truth.
This comes with a huge trigger warning
So 2021 I got raped by someone who I thought I could trust and was my friend.
This was someone I trusted with my children and had known for over 10 years.
I reported to the police once I got over the shock, he was extremely confident after it happened, he had no worries about me going to the police, which made me think he had done this before.
A few months after I reported another woman also reported he had also raped her 8 months before he raped me.
Said rapist was never arrested but asked to come to the station when it was best for him.
A few months passed and then the police dropped all charges on rapist due to lack of evidence.
He was tormenting me and then calling the police on me.
Nov 11th I had a knock on my door and it was the police, to my shock and horror they had sent 3 men over to arrest me for stalking and harassing said rapist (no charges as I hadn't been doing either)
They kept me in a cell for hours and was let out at 2am to get a taxi on my own, no fucks given.
My phone was taken for 4 months and my life seemed ripped from under my feet.
After the arrested I had to fight for a victim right to review and finally got my case to court.
Fabulous...but I wasn't allowed to mention in court about the other girl he also raped so she and her family had to watch it all from the public gallery.
Due to lack of evidence said rapist is now back on your streets.
I had to stand a swear on a bible to tell the whole truth BUT not the whole truth as my case would of been closed if I mentioned what I knew.
The jury were not allowed to know about it.
This has left me and my children feeling unsafe again and my story is one of thousands of woman all over the country being let down by a broken system.
I will not be silenced and nor should anyone of this sort of crime.
Abandoned By Emily
They say if you speak up, someone will help you.
I was thirteen when I finally told someone what he was doing to me. I thought that by saying the words out loud — the ones that burned my throat and made my chest tighten — everything would change. That Emily would protect me. That someone would stop him.
But no one came.
I waited months after that first conversation. Every day felt like a risk. I was still in the same house. Still seeing him. Still terrified. In school, I barely spoke. I stopped sleeping. I kept thinking, Maybe Emily didn’t believe me. Maybe I wasn’t important enough.
It was almost a year before I saw her again. By then, I had already stopped hoping. When she finally showed up, she was kind, or tried to be. But even she looked tired. Overwhelmed. She said there were too many cases. Not enough staff. I wasn’t a person to her anymore, just another number in a pile of pain.
What hurt the most wasn’t just the abuse. It was the silence that came after.
I found out later that kids like me, hundreds of us, were never even reported to the guards. Emily said it was a staffing issue. A communication breakdown. But what does that mean to a scared child waiting for rescue?
Some girls I met in care said they stopped talking to therapists. Why bother, when Emily might go back and tell your abuser what you said? One girl’s complaint was shared with the man who hurt her, even though she begged Emily not to investigate. That kind of betrayal stays in your bones.
When I was placed in a foster home, I thought maybe it would be better. But they hadn’t really checked the family. The man there used to stare too long. Once I caught him watching me through a cracked door. I didn’t tell Emily. I already knew what would happen: nothing.
Emily didn’t protect me. She postponed me.
Years later, I read a report that said girls like me were being taken from care homes by taxis and delivered to men in hotels. That could’ve been me. It almost was. Once, a man outside my care home called me by name. I still don’t know how he knew it.
Now I’m older. I survived. But I still dream about Emily, not as a monster, but as a shadow. The person who was supposed to help. The one who looked at my broken voice and turned away.
I told her. I begged her. And she did nothing.
The Masked Truth is sharing my story not because it’s rare, but because it isn’t. There are hundreds of children like me still waiting for someone like Emily. Still hoping they’ll be more than a file on a desk.
Don’t let them wait in silence.
Sarah's Story
Sarah was a single mother of two children aged 11 and 6, she worked hard to provide the best possible lifestyle for her children. One day Sarah was involved in a car accident which tragically ended up with her falling into a coma then latterly passing away. Because of this devastating turn of events the children’s future was very uncertain.
The children went into the temporary care of Sarah’s grieving parents, Social Services at this stage got involved and the result was the children were eventually made “Wards of the Court” and from that point Social Services decided who if anyone within the wider family circle would be most appropriate to provide the correct level of care and financial support to the children. The heart-breaking fact that comes from this situation is that the children were deemed to be better cared for by foster parents, ripping the heart from the family very soon after the loss of Sarah!
The stark fact is that 3,500 children entered the care system last year! All of this drama and stress can easily be avoided by simply making a Will, this is a water tight document that allows parents too correctly and legally document who the Guardians will be, and how you want them to look after your children.
So the message is clear to all parents of young children, please make a Will
The full story has shocked and divided the UK — read what really happened that night, and why her appeal just got rejected.
Was it justice or injustice?
Martyna Ogonowska, who was 18 when she fatally stabbed a man during a violent and sexual assault, has lost her legal challenge to reduce her 17-year prison sentence.
Ogonowska, a young mother, was sentenced to life in prison in 2019 for the murder of 23-year-old Filip Jaskiewicz.
The killing occurred in a Peterborough car park in 2018. During her trial, she said she carried the knife used in the stabbing for protection, having been a victim of child sexual abuse in the past.
Evidence presented in court revealed that Jaskiewicz had physically assaulted her—grabbing her neck with such force it forced her to the ground—before subjecting her to sexual assault.
It was at this point Ogonowska stabbed him.
Presiding over the original trial at Cambridge Crown Court, Judge Farrell QC acknowledged that Jaskiewicz had been physically and sexually aggressive.
However, he ruled that the incident did not meet the criteria for lawful self-defence, largely because Ogonowska had brought a weapon to the scene.
While recognizing her mental health challenges and history of trauma, he found the murder conviction appropriate.
On Friday, the Court of Appeal upheld her sentence.
An earlier appeal against her conviction was dismissed in 2023.
Her legal team had argued that a more appropriate sentence would have been between 12 and 13 years.
But in the appellate court’s decision, Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said that while the sentence was severe for someone of Ogonowska’s background and age, the gravity of the crime meant the trial judge had acted within reason.
“We are ultimately unpersuaded that the sentence imposed by the judge can be described as manifestly excessive,” he stated.
The court had also heard details of Ogonowska’s previous trauma, including suffering from PTSD following a reported rape in 2015 when she was 14.
However, no charges were brought against the alleged perpetrator. During her own trial, Judge Farrell accepted the prosecution’s view—partially supported by Facebook messages—that the sexual encounter had been consensual, despite Ogonowska’s young age at the time.
Advocacy group Justice for Women has labeled Ogonowska a “double victim” of a system biased against women.
Harriet Wistrich, director of the Centre for Women’s Justice, criticized how the case was handled and questioned whether prosecutors had properly accounted for rape myths when the complainant became the accused.
Nevertheless, Lord Justice Stuart-Smith supported Farrell’s findings, saying the trial judge had been in the best position to assess the facts and credibility of the claims.
“The judge’s decision to reject her version of events regarding the alleged rape was difficult but justifiable,” he noted.
He added that although the prior trauma influenced her mental state, it did not legally qualify as diminished responsibility.
Farrell had already reduced the minimum term from the 25-year starting point, considering various mitigating factors including her relocation from Poland at a young age, experiences of bullying, postnatal depression, and the broader challenges of adapting to life in the UK.
The Court of Appeal concluded that the sentencing judge had carefully weighed the mitigating circumstances before settling on a 17-year minimum term.
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