WHEN the paedophile who abused her daughter was released after serving half of his sentence in prison, Sue* could no longer keep silent. Here the mother-of-three shares her anger and unspeakable pain at seeing the man who ruined her daughter's life walk free again.

HE sat in court smirking the whole time. He found the whole thing amusing.

He called my daughter a liar. He was smug; he didn't care.

It is only when the verdict came in and he was found guilty that it seemed to finally sink into his head that it wasn't a game anymore.

He was sentenced to four years, two to be served in prison. It was a pathetic sentence. I wanted to get my hands on him and hurt him like he had hurt my daughter. He had known her since the day she was born. I had never liked him. I found him arrogant, rude and aggressive but I didn't think he was capable of anything like this. There's just no way of recognising a predator.

Now he's free. But how can he be released when he never admitted his guilt. What stops him now from doing it again to others?

My daughter Marie* did not say anything about it for a long time. I noticed that her behaviour changed around Year 7. She went from practically top of the class to bottom. She got into trouble. She was so angry all the time. I thought she had fallen in with the wrong crowd. In Year 9 I moved her to a different school and I thought things would get better. She was 13 when she finally told one of my friends what had happened; that he'd been touching her when she was ten and made her touch him. Although now we know it was more than that and he actually raped her. My friend broke her confidence and told me. When I asked Marie about it, she started shaking, crying, she was hysterical.

She refused to talk to the police. I knew there was no pushing her until she was ready. I was so angry he could have done this to her. When I spoke to my daughters, my eldest said she had seen him doing things to my other child when she was six years old. I asked why she had never said anything. She said she didn't think anyone would believe her. We tried to bring charges against him for it but my middle daughter didn't remember it happening so it didn't stand in the end.

It was a hard time for everyone.

Marie wouldn't talk about what happened. I learnt what went on through the court proceedings. Maybe she was embarrassed to talk to me. For a while she still maintained it was her fault. She said she must have done something wrong and that nobody would believe her. It was hard to get across to her that none of it was her fault.

Then one morning in September 2012, I was taking her to school when out of the blue she said, 'Mum, call the police.'

It was a relief. I'm so proud of her for speaking to the police. She said she couldn't forgive herself if it happened to somebody else. But she didn't want us to sit in the courtroom during the trial. So I was only there to testify. The rest of the time we sat in the waiting room. Since he was sentenced she's disclosed certain things to me but I can never ask her to elaborate. She doesn't want me to ask any questions.

Earlier this year, she told her CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) worker that she was also raped. They disclosed it to the police, they had to, it was their duty of care; but she was furious. She is not in a good place at the moment and she says she can't face dealing with it or going back to court and I can't force her to.

This has ruined her life. She is a totally different person now. She hates herself, she has put on 3st and she goes through periods where she starves herself and then binges. She is taking it out on herself. Mentally she is really suffering. She has PTSD, anxiety and panic attacks, OCD. She is on anti-depressants and she has tried to take her own life a couple of times. She doesn't feel worthy. She's admitted she doesn't want to be here anymore but she's promised me she won't try to take her life again.

Hopefully in the future she will feel strong enough to go back to court. Personally I think she can only move forward if she deals with it all, but it's easy for me to say.

She has got worse recently. Knowing he was about to come out of prison was enough to set her back again.

The system needs to change. I don't think anyone realises how much it has ruined her life. It has to be ten times worse for a child who can't cope with these feelings. You can't even imagine it unless it's happened to you. As far as I'm concerned he should never have been allowed to come back to this area. I'm worried he will do the same thing to others.

I dread the day she sees him on the street. It could happen. If I met him I don't think I would be able to control myself. I couldn't cope.

This man has taken everything away from my daughter. He's taken her childhood, her sense of self-worth. Now he is out. He's going to carry on with his life as normal. But my daughter is still suffering. She can't see a way out."

*Not her real name.

*To report a sexual assault or rape, call Wiltshire Police on 101.

Alternatively call independent Sexual Assault Referral Centre (SARC)’s free 24/7 helpline on 0808 168 0024.

Reporting an attack does not mean that a victim has to take it further. Wiltshire Police will not force anyone to press charges if they do not wish to.