Clair Strevens was just 13 years old when the man who employed her mum raped her at his home
It haunted her for years, throughout her teenage years and early adulthood, until Clair finally reported what happened to her in the home of her mother’s boss with his hideous brown leather sofa.
Clair Strevens was just 13 years old when her mother’s boss offered her some pocket money for coming to his home to help him with his receipts and other admin.
Her mother was a private cleaner for Paul Abraham at several of his properties and money was tight for the single mum and her daughter in Cyncoed, Cardiff, so she jumped at the chance. She saw Paul as a family friend she had known since she was seven years old.
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She was horrified when he attempted to kiss her but agreed to go back the following week – because she and her mum needed the money. But this time he raped her.
Growing up, Clair, now 46, was traumatised by what she went through, and experienced eating disorders, depression, substance abuse and self harm.
But she never told anyone as she claimed Abraham, who is now 69 years old, had implied harm could come to her family if she did.
It wasn’t until 28 years later that Clair finally filed a report with police after a traumatic breakdown, and spoke out in November 2019.
Abraham, of Lansdowne Road in Canton, Cardiff, pleaded not guilty to charges of buggery, rape and four counts of indecent assault – and was found guilty of rape and one count of indecent assault in relation to Clair after a trial in August 2022 at Cardiff Crown Court.
Supported by the evidence of his acts against another young victim around the same time, Abraham was sentenced to 18 years of imprisonment.
He will be eligible for parole after 12 years and Clair has finally got “freedom” after so many years of quietly suffering.
Clair, who now works as a cleaner herself, said: “If I were to smell his cologne again now, I would instantly go back to that moment in time.
“I remember crying out for him to stop, it was horrific. As a teen it caused me to have a lot of dark thoughts and low self-worth, I was reckless.
“But I didn’t want my family knowing why, because at that age I saw myself to blame. I moved away from Cardiff and it wasn’t until decades on that another incident opened Pandora’s box, and I had a breakdown before finally reporting him.
“I knew he’d plead not guilty and it would go all the way to trial – I felt like I needed to see him in court, look him in the eye, and show him I’m not afraid any more.
“When the judge gave the sentence, I was blown away. The gravity of it all hit me. Just the biggest sense of relief.”
Clair remembers Paul as driving a MG MGF, styling slicked-back hair, jeans with a tight belt and wearing Christian Dior Fahrenheit aftershave.
So she jumped at the chance to help wealthy Paul for some extra cash. She said: “I needed to get his receipts, and take down the details for him – it just seemed like easy money.”
She was taken to Paul’s house in mid-February 1991 for the first time, when his wife was out.
She said: “We were sat on this hideous typical 80s leather sofa. He said ‘I think you owe me a Valentine’s Day kiss, don’t you?’”
He leant over to try and kiss me, and I was petrified.
“I ran to the toilet, and when I came back out, he told me it was time to go home, and nothing more was said about it.”
She went back a week later – desperate for money to help her mum.
Clair said: “That was when the rape happened. I remember crying out for him to stop, and this horrific pain.
“But he said if I told my mum, my family would be distraught, and he indicated that my mum would lose her job if I said something.
“He said he had dangerous connections to ‘villains’, to make me think that if I revealed anything that happened to anyone, they could harm my family.”
So Clair vowed never to tell a soul – although the abuse she experienced affected her throughout her teenage years and into adulthood.
She moved out of her home at just 14 and suffered with “dark thoughts” and periods of depression, self harm and eating disorders.
She said: “I was referred to a psychologist, and I remember thinking, ‘there’s no way I’m sharing anything about that’.”
She moved away from Cardiff aged 18 and studied Early Childhood Studies in Derbyshire, then spent two decades moving around various areas of Pembrokeshire.
Clair dated, but could never maintain a healthy, lasting relationship because of what she had experienced.
She said: “Relationships were always difficult for me. I could never appreciate what love was.
“It led to me being throwaway with other people’s emotions, because I felt unloveable.”
Aged 40, she moved back to Cardiff to work with vulnerable young adults that become pray for county lines gangs, and this became a catalyst for her finally reporting the rape – some 28 years on.
She said: “I learned there are a lot of similarities between the identities of people who are susceptible to county lines gangs, and those who are sexual abuse victims.
“They are often people from broken homes, without positive role models. I identified with that. They emphasised the weight of reporting.
“At the end of the session, I asked, ‘if someone were looking to report something from years ago, how would they go about it?’.”
From there, Clair was put in touch with a team where she shared her rape out loud with authorities for the first time in her life. It transpired there was a second victim a year older than Clair.
Evidence the two women provided which supported each other’s accounts was enough for Paul to be charged with buggery, rape and four counts of indecent assault, in relation to Clair.
It went to trial at Cardiff Crown Court in August 2022 after Paul pleaded not guilty.
Clair said: “I faced him in court, stood in the box, looked him in the eye and showed him I wasn’t not afraid of him any more. I wanted him to know I wasn’t bothered. I felt empowered.”
Clair got a phone call confirming the verdict and described feeling “absolutely elated” and “the biggest sense of relief”.
She said: “When the judge gave the sentence, it had a huge impact. It showed the seriousness of the offence.”
As the years have passed since the sentencing, Clair’s life has improved and “flourished”.
Clair said: “Survivors don’t have to be tying themselves up with the guilt and shame.
“This thing I’d lived with my whole life, I feared coming forward as I didn’t expect to be believed.
“It is possible to get a conviction, and that brings a sense of freedom.”
