7 of 51

Write now Article Tools

Page 2 of 2

always around. Once when I went out on a date, Bill almost crashed his car into us. Still I felt powerless-he'd told me so many times that no one would help us. Bill stalked me for three years. The strain on Michelle was awful. Bill insisted on driving her to school, so the other kids turned against her, calling her a narc. I watched my outgoing popular daughter turn into a paranoid wreck. Some of the bullies called her fat , so she stopped eating. Looking back, she must of felt as if that was the only part of her life she could control. She went 100 Ilbs to 75 pounds I had to take her to endless doctors appointments. Eventually, in the summer of 2000, one of my friends complained to police in a different district on my behalf. Bill was made to enter into a peace bond, a kind of injunction. But he soon broke it. Once Bill and a friend circled Michelle in his car and said to her, "Do you know what death feels like/ It;s coming to you! Eventually, in 2001, Bill was arrested again. He admitted harassment and violence. But the case never went to court, because we moved to a woman's shelter in another town. By then I didn't care about Bill-it was Michelle who worried me. She'd sit in her room all day, rocking. We were compensated by Criminal Injuries board and given therapy, but Michelle refused to talk about the past.

Breaking point. One day in 2003, things came to a head. I was in the garden with a friend. Michelle came outside doubled over in agony, and collapsed in my arms. She'd taken 300 painkillers. but thankfully she recovered fully. Now we are slowly rebuilding our lives. after missing five years of school, Michelle is studying law. As she grows happier, so do I, but I'll never get over the guilt of knowing that I brought Bill into our lives. And I still wonder if he'll find us again.

Michelle's story. Michelle now 22, says "I can't believe what Bill put us through. I'd just started high school, and having a uniformed policeman take me to school, turned me into an outsider. the other kids called me names and pushed me around. 'Eventually, when I was 15, after 20 kids surrounded our house, I left school and studied on-line. I was too scared to go out. I started to punish myself by not eating. I lost 20 pounds in two weeks. Mom begged me to eat but I wouldn't. "When we moved, I hoped everything would get better, but I didn't I was scared to be around people. I felt so depressed, I just wanted to sit in my room in the dark. that's when i decided to end it all. 'I took some pills, than told my family I loved them. I remember crawling in agony to give Mom the phone, and hearing her screaming. 'waking up in the hospital, i realized I didn't want to die. I just wanted to be heard. since then, I've slowly picked up the pieces. I'm very happy now, and I want to put the past behind me".

A position of trust

bill is not the only officer to be accused of stalking. Four years ago, British copper Keith Miller also escaped a jail term, like Bill did, after stalking a teenager. earlier this year, mom-of-three Marion Rhodes told magistrates she'd been harassed for two years by policeman Paul Thistleton. He received a three-year restraining order.

Learn more about this author, Ann Richards.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.

• << previous page
• 1
• 2

Add your voice

Know something about Victims of abuse: When enough is enough?
We want to hear your view. Write now!