I was blackmailed into sex acts with ‘strangers’ for years…then found out it was my DAD who had been abusing me
A WOMAN has spoken out about being blindfolded and sexually abused by her father who pretended to be a string of different men.
Charlene Masterson, 32, was a teenager when she was blackmailed into performing oral sex on her father.
Speaking to The Indo Daily Podcast, Charlene said the abuse started in 2007 after she received an anonymous text message from someone claiming to have incriminating information about her.
The message cautioned the then 18-year-old that if she did not perform the acts, the information would be leaked.
"I randomly got messages from a number, I didn't know the number, and it read 'I know what you did', and anyone that knows me, knows I hate being in trouble, so I immediately panicked," she said.
She was told her father, David Masterson, 56, would be fired from his role at a Dublin airport if she did not fulfil the demands.
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When she went to her father for help, he told her that she would need to comply or he risked losing his job.
She said: "The one person you go to for help is your dad, and I did, and his response was 'you're going to have to.' It wasn't the reaction I was expecting."
Pals of sex abuse survivor Charlene Masterson are fundraising to help her achieve her dream job as a teacher or nurse
But the brave survivor, 32, is now being backed by friends who have started a campaign to help her train for her dream job.
Pal Aoife Rose O'Reilly said Charlene is “standing tall” after her brave fight for justice.
She added: “Situations like these are desperate and feel endless but through her own courage she has brought it to an end.
Despite not ever being told what the information was Charlene said she was too "naive" at the time to try and dispute it.
She said: "It was him, so he knew I didn't do anything, I don't even know how he concocted this whole thing, he knew exactly what I had done, which was nothing."
Her father's lies and coercion meant the teenager was subjected to five years of rape and other forms of horrific sexual abuse.
Each time, she was made to wear a blindfold and listen to music while her father pretended to bring a new person into their home to molest her.
David, Charlene's father, would then force her to perform sexual acts on him.
She said: "I remember it vividly, sitting there in whatever he had demanded I wear that night and he would be looking out the window going, 'oh he is coming across the field.'"
It would be another five years before the woman from Dublin discovered the truth.
Charlene said it was when she went to help her grandmother install a programme on her laptop that she found a DVD where part of the abuse was documented.
She said: "I didn't watch past the first 10 seconds. When he came home I was still getting messages from the stranger and I replied ''I know you are my dad''.
However, what started as covert soon became 'open' abuse.
Her father stopped sending messages but instead began groping and raping her in the house.
He followed her to work, which she was soon forced to give up, and frequently sent her abusive messages.
It wasn't until her colleague in social care asked if her father was abusing her that the years of torture were finally brought to light.
In 2014, Charlene's friends went to her mother and informed her of what had been happening to her daughter.
David was jailed for 17 years for the abuse of his daughter.
Speaking on RTÉ radio after the case Charlene said she was shocked that her father showed no remorse in court and looked mostly unchanged.
She said: "It was something the judge called out on his day of sentencing.
"The judge questioned 'no remorse?' and his barrister said 'there is full admission.'"
The judge added: "I'm not questioning the admission but can I confirm that there is no remorse'' and the barrister said 'no'."
"It was gut wrenching," Charlene said.
"You'd think that he will be a little bit sorry. I am never going to get an apology. No remorse, but he has to live with that," she added.
The Central Criminal Court also heard that the disgraced man had gone on to violate three girls, having sexual encounters with two and getting into a relationship with another - who also lived with him for a short period.
Charlene has since widely spoken out about her story and is now campaigning for other survivors.
She praised the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre for their support during the court case and afterwards.
But despite her efforts to overcome the trauma she said she still carries around a heavy degree of worry.
Charlene said that growing up she always feared her father and that letting go of this fear will be impossible.
She added, she was defenceless and was “easy prey” for him and others “in his sick world”.
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She said it was “like living with Patrick Bergin in the movie Sleeping with the Enemy,” but that she could not swim away like Julia Roberts did in the movie.
She said she had dreamed of being married and having children by the time she was 30, but she does not now feel like that will ever happen for her.