Raped at 10, pregnant twice before the age of 12… story in the SUNDAY PEOPLE newspaper on Sunday.
The Sunday People newspaper headlined this story, ‘One of the Worse cases of Abuse in Care… Ever’ – and I have to agree. In over 25 years of journalism, rarely have I come across such a shocking story. When Terrie O’Brian’s mother had a breakdown she went to live with foster parents. But the man they used as a babysitter raped her at the age of 10. By the age of 11 she was pregnant and social services decided she should have an abortion. But rather than take steps to prevent this happening again, and have him charged, they allowed Alan Vince, 33, to continue to see Terrie. Consequently, she got pregnant again and ended up having a baby at the age of just 13. Devastatingly this baby was adopted.
Terrie, 25, is now happily married and has two children. She took Vince to court herself and got him jailed. Then she made a formal complaint to social services. They have now apologised and Terrie has won a settlement from them.
She said: “It was a lovely two page spread and I was really happy with it. I hope we have more deals with other publications in the future as it has been a pleasure to work with you. I was extremely worried about selling my story in the beginning but am happy with the results.”
After Terrie’s real life story was printed, several magazines also wanted it and I have now negotiated a further deal for Terrie with a top women’s magazine.
Sell your story for justice here
