FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
As five members of a gang that sexually abused young girls were jailed, one of the victims of the abuse says she is now rebuilding her life.
Sara, an elegantly dressed girl in her 20s, speaks in a low but clear voice.
From the outside, it doesn't give the impression that it has gone through an ordeal of suffering.
But since the age of 14, Sarah, whose name has been changed to protect her identity, has been molested, sexually assaulted and raped.
On Friday, her abuser and four other members of a Romanian-Albanian gang were jailed with sentences ranging from 18 months to 14 years.
In October, four Romanian men and one Albanian were found guilty of multiple criminal offenses against six girls.
The offences were committed between 2015 and 2019, with the group targeting minors in Saltwell Park.
The victims were given alcohol and drugs before being abused.
Sarah says she met her abuser when she was 14. She says he initially appeared friendly, but then changed dramatically.
The five men were jailed at Newcastle Crown Court.
"He waited until I was completely vulnerable after drinking, and that was the first time he did anything," says Sarah.
He raped her and on one occasion tried to strangle her.
"I would never know what he would do next. I was in Saltwell Park in the middle of the day, there were people around, no one did anything to help me," says Sara.
She says she wishes she had reported the abuse against her earlier.
"I felt bad, I felt guilty. I felt a little guilty because I thought if I had done something at that time, would he have been able to do it to someone else?" she says.
Finally, Sara told an NHS worker and the police what had happened.
"Just reaching out and telling them, no matter how hard it is, is always worth it because you deserve to be heard and that person deserves to be held accountable for what they did," she says.
Sara is now trying to rebuild her life. "I never want what happened to me to stop me from having the kind of future I want to have. I want to be able to settle down and start a family. But I think what happened will never go away and will always be with me," she tells the BBC .
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