I had one can of beer and then woke up on bed with vile neighbour performing a sex act on me
BRAVE JUNE’S 21-YEAR WAIT FOR JUSTICE
A MUM who was sexually assaulted by her neighbour has told of her relief after the beast was finally brought to justice.
Rapist Thomas Gray, 55, was last month jailed for nine years for a series of sexual crimes.
Earlier this month, siblings Julie McKinlay, 38, and Charles Buntine, 34, told how they were finally able to stand up to their abusive stepdad 30 years after his crimes.
Now June Mitchell, who was sexually assaulted by Gray after a night out, has also waived her right to anonymity to let other victims know it is never too late for justice.
June, 55, from Port Glasgow, Renfrewshire, said: “I never thought I’d see the day where I would get justice for what he did.
“What happened that night has never left me. I want to tell my story to encourage other victims of abuse to come forward.
“I want them to know that it is never too late to speak out and report these things to the police.”
In 1996, June and her husband were invited to the home of Thomas and Rhona Gray, who lived two doors down from them.
Hours later, June woke to find Gray sexually assaulting her in his bed.
She recalled: “That night, my husband and I were heading into Port Glasgow and we bumped into them and invited them along.
“They were our neighbours and we thought we were just being friendly.
“Afterwards, they invited us and other neighbours back to their house.
“My husband had work the next day and headed home but left me there. My brother was there, so he assumed I would be OK.
“I knew Thomas’s wife, as our kids were about the same age, but I didn’t really know him. He seemed a bit creepy.
“That night, he made a joke about my husband and I having a foursome with him and his wife and I felt really uncomfortable.
“I’d had one can of beer and then woke up on the bed with Thomas performing a sex act on me.
“At first, I had no idea where I was. I felt sluggish and confused.
“Then I heard Thomas say, ‘That was good.’ My trousers were down. I was horrified and sickened.” June believes Gray spiked her drink but he has never been charged or convicted of this claim. She added: “After the attack, I ran home and told my husband. “We called the police and I went to the station for an examination. They later said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him. “I found it really hard to cope with him living a few doors down and moved our family to England.” After later returning to Port Glasgow, June was shocked when police got in touch last year. She said: “They turned up on my doorstep to ask me about Gray in connection with an abuse case.”
She was horrified to discover the abuse Julie and Charles had suffered.
Charles was just three when Gray started to physically and sexually abuse him. In 1987, when he was four, he was removed from the family home and ended up in care.
Shortly after that, when Julie was only 10, Gray began abusing her. He raped and beat her.
The siblings were reunited in 1997, when Julie tracked Charles down to a children’s home in Kirkcaldy.
Julie, from Greenock, said: “We had no idea that each of us was hiding such a secret.”
In 1998, she reported to police how Gray had abused her but no action was taken because of a lack of evidence.
The breakthrough came in 2015, after the paedophile appeared in court and admitted downloading indecent images of children.
Charles broke down and he and Julie opened their hearts to each other about the abuse. Police then also contacted June and all three gave evidence against Gray in court.
He was convicted of sexually assaulting June in August 1996 and preying on the siblings between 1986 and 1997.
Jailing Gray, Judge Kenneth Maciver QC said he had shown a “total lack of remorse”. He also placed him on the sex offenders’ register indefinitely