Woman raped by brother urges others to report abuse

Andrew McQueen, 30, was jailed for five years in June

A woman who was raped by her brother as a child has urged other victims of sexual assault to come forward.

Charlotte McQueen, 28, has waived her right to anonymity after her brother Andrew McQueen, 30, of Thomas Street, Cirencester, was jailed for five years at Gloucester Crown Court.

She reported the abuse to police in February after receiving a text from her brother asking for her forgiveness, leading to him pleading guilty to nine non-recent sexual offences.

"Andrew, my big brother, was supposed to protect me," Ms McQueen told the court. "Instead I spent four years of my childhood living in fear of sexual and physical violence from him."

McQueen will spend at least two years and eight months in prison after being sentenced on 13 June, for offences he carried out between the ages of 11 and 15.

Ms McQueen was just nine when the sexual assaults began.

"Andrew took my innocence, my mental health and my happiness," she said in court.

"He has stolen my childhood. I struggle to remember the happy times because they are tainted by the misery and the pain that he caused me."

After McQueen sent the text to his sister, the conversation escalated, Gloucester Crown Court heard, and he began sending threatening messages aimed at her and her children.

She said: "His threats against my family made me realise that I could not allow him to use this against me any more and I could not allow him to threaten or intimidate my children."

McQueen admitted the attacks after he was arrested, claiming he had been drunk when he sent the texts and had issues with his own mental health.

With her brother now in prison, Ms McQueen said that her decision to come forward was allowing her to rebuild her life.

"I allowed him to have control over my life until now – that was 19 years of my life," she said.

Urging other victims to speak up, she said: "Nobody questioned whether I was telling the truth or not.

"It will be hard and, mentally, it will be challenging, but the support that you will receive makes it manageable.

"Now I can get back to living my life; I can access support without this big secret hanging over me."