‘I have waited over 40 years to come forward ... it’s about taking the first step’

‘I have waited over 40 years to come forward ... it’s about taking the first step’

17 September 2025

A FORMER Portaferry woman, who waited over 40 years to report being indecently assaulted by her brother as a child, says “there is help out there” to others who have experienced similar abuse. 

Liam McNamara (65) pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault against his sister, Bernadette Masterson, at Downpatrick Crown Court in October 2024 and was given an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. 

The offences spanned an eight-year period between 1971 and 1979, beginning when Bernadette was just six years old.

Passing the sentence last October, Judge Geoffrey Miller told McNamara that the impact of his actions was “immense” and that his victim had suffered “ongoing harm”.

Mrs Masterson, now aged 60 and a mother-of-three, who lives in Belfast, is waiving her anonymity to bring some closure for her family.

“The abuse started when I was six,” she recalled.

“Then there was an incident when I was approximately 14 that was going to take the abuse further than had previously occurred and that was the line for me. I said no. That was a line I couldn’t cross.”

She spoke of how when she was very young, one of her parents found out she had told her friends about what was happening, but ultimately nothing was done to prevent the abuse.

“I did pass a comment to friends at the very start of it and because it wasn’t acted on that was it. I never said anything again.

“It got back to a parent. Whether it wasn’t believed or whether they did act on it, it didn’t make any difference.

“I have no recollection, I just remember being told that was it, it was over.”

Mrs Masterson said sexual abuse was a “taboo subject” in the 1970s.

“My brother could have been spoken to but it wasn’t something that was done,” she said.

“There would have been no social workers or support workers at the time. Even schools wouldn’t have had the recognition that they would have now. There would have been no classes like sex education.

“There was nowhere to research. Young people today can avail of help services whereas in our generation there was nothing like that.”

Mrs Masterson revealed that her brother did apologise to her on one occasion years later for the harm he had caused. 

“I received counselling when I had children of my own and part of the recovery process was to actually speak to him and I did,” she explained. 

“He said he was sorry and he’d hoped I’d forgotten about it. That was the only occasion he apologised.”

Mrs Masterson said she was out of work for the six-to-eight-month period when she received counselling.

Before and after this time, there have been other difficult periods for herself and her family as a result of the abuse.

“Depression is something that I have struggled with,” she said.

“There have been periods when it has been a big part of my life. I’ve tried not to let it rule my life as such.

“I don’t take medication all the time but there have been periods throughout my life when I’ve been dealing with the likes of this when I have had medication.

“There were difficult times throughout our married life where there would have been arguments and things but the majority of the time the abuse was just something that was always hanging over us.

“I’m one of those people – when you grew up in the country, you just put up with it.”

Mrs Masterson said she remained civil with her brother while her mother was alive, despite the abuse he inflicted, which caused friction between her and her husband at one time.

“My husband found it difficult at times that there was still a relationship,” she explained.

“Because we were such a small family and because my mother was still alive, things were kept in their box for mummy’s sake to put on a face, but there would have always been an underlying current between my brother and me.”

Mrs Masterson says she and her brother have not been in contact since her mother’s death.

She spoke of how another reason she had been hesitant to report the abuse in the past was that she didn’t feel it would be taken seriously. 

“I didn’t think it would be something that anybody would be interested in or that the courts would even consider it worth taking through the judiciary process because in my heart there was worse happening elsewhere,” she said.

It wasn’t until the start of 2022 that Bernadette first reported what happened to her, with a family incident acting as the catalyst to start the proceedings.

The NSPCC was Bernadette’s first point of contact, who then informed the police.

The case was taken on by the Public Prosecution Service and Victim Support NI were involved from the start, offering Bernadette counselling and advice on the court process.

“I was very astonished that it actually got taken into the court process,” she said.

Commenting on the suspended jail sentence imposed by the judge, she said: “It’s what we had been led to 

believe would be the punishment, so in that way it was of no surprise to us.”

While Mrs Masterson was pleased with the outcome, she felt let down by the court process.

“At no point did I speak to a solicitor, at no point did I speak to representation,” she said.

“The PPS changed the court date and didn’t inform myself or my PSNI officer – we would have turned up for court on the wrong day.

“When my brother went in, his statement was read out and nobody had questioned it. I never got an opportunity, I just had to sit there and listen to his reasoning. 

“I felt that once he pleaded guilty and they got the result they wanted I was no longer of use to them.”

Mrs Masterson said she asked for her anonymity to be lifted during the court proceedings, but to no avail. 

“No one was speaking to me. My PSNI officer even tried that morning to get in contact with them to say that I had requested my anonymity to be lifted and nobody was listening. That would have meant it could have been reported at the time,” she said.

Now waiving her anonymity, she is encouraging others who have suffered abuse to come forward.

“I waited over 40 years to come forward and found that there is support out there,” she said.

“It wasn’t that I didn’t think I would be believed, I just didn’t think the abuse was severe enough to be taken to the courts.

“I was fortunate to have the outcome where my brother pleaded guilty. The process and going in and speaking to somebody completely neutral was helpful in coming to terms with what happened to me.

“Even if you don’t take it as far as the courts, there is help out there. It’s about taking the first step.

“The original support I received was fantastic, it was just when it got to court I just felt the process let me down,” she added.

Mrs Masterson said getting the guilty verdict has brought her family closer together and that waiving her anonymity is the “final thing I needed to complete the process for us as a family.”