Anger over childhood abuse leads to prison term for arson
The irony of Damien Linnane’s story of childhood abuse fills him with anger.
At a young age he and his mother fled their home to escape Damien’s violent father.
About a year and a half later, a private investigator led Damien’s father to the pair.
He made false allegations that Damien’s mother was abusing her young son and was able to
secure temporary custody.
The wheels of justice turn slowly and this was certainly the case in this instance.
Damien was forced to live with his father and stepmother for nearly nine years while his mother
battled to regain custody.
It was there that Damien was sexually abused by a friend of his step-mother’s.
He told his father and step-mother but they didn’t believe him.
“The irony of this really gets me,” Damien said.
“The fabricated allegations about my mother were what put me in that house.”
Damien said he was devastated when his father and step-mother dismissed the claims.
“They not only dismissed it, I was actually further punished because they thought I was lying,”
Damien said.
From that point on, Damien kept his dark secret.
When a partner confessed she had been raped, Damien wanted to exact revenge.
He went to the house of the rapist and set it on fire.
Damien received a sentence of two years in prison.
He said he wondered for many years why he was so angry about the abuse.
It was only in counselling he realised it was the sense of betrayal by the very people who were
supposed to be looking after him.
He feared that if he told anyone else they too would think he was lying.
Damien shared his story on episode 8 of the Survivor Stories podcast. LISTEN HERE
