A WOMAN who was sexually abused by her brother from the age of five has opened up on her pain after her mum chose to defend her sibling. Shavoughne Firth, now 27, bravely waived her legal right to anonymity to tell the story of how she was sexually assaulted by her brother Kieran, who is 11 years older than her.
![[Shavoughne Firth, now 27, bravely waived her legal right to anonymity to tell how she was sexually abused by her older brother]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/cornish-woman-sexually-abused-much-958723903_672f71.jpg?strip=all&w=485)
The mum said the abuse at the family home near Penzance, Cornwall, made her feel "alienated, lost and not human", a court heard. Brave Shavoughne said she wants to raise awareness around sexual abuse within families, adding: "I'm grieving for that little girl that had to go through all that but I'm also grieving for the adult version of myself who doesn't have a mother now.".
![[Shavoughne Firth, now 27, said the abuse made her feel 'alienated and lost']](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/cornish-woman-sexually-abused-much-958723884.jpg?strip=all&w=702)
Kieran Firth, now 37, was sentenced to eight years in prison earlier this month. Firth, of St Aubyns in Goldsithney, near Penzance, appeared at Exeter Crown Court on Wednesday, December 4, for sentencing. He denied the offences but was found guilty on five counts of sexual offences against a child, including two counts of indecent assault, two of assault by penetration and one of sexual assault following a trial earlier this year.
![[Kieran Firth, 37, has been jailed for eight years]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/kieran-firth-37-jailed-eight-958723152.jpg?strip=all&w=720)
The court heard how Firth was 16 when the abuse began and continued until he was aged 22. Shavoughne was aged just 5 to 12 during the offences, which she said has had a "deep and lasting impact" on her existence. Shavoughne, who left the family home for the first time aged 15 and then permanently at age 18 while heavily pregnant, read an emotive statement aloud to the courtroom and to her abuser ahead of the judge's verdict.
![[Shavoughne says she is now speaking up to try and help others]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/cornish-woman-sexually-abused-much-958723928.jpg?strip=all&w=642)
