Rape victim Michelle Erwin fears her notorious sex offender uncle "will kill the next kid he gets" as she pleaded for other victims to come forward.
Paedophile Billy Adams raped his niece Michelle, when she was just eight years old in south Dublin.
Today he was sentenced to three years in Laganside Court for attempted buggery and sexual assault of a young man he shared a dorm with in Rathgael in the early 80s.
The man told the Belfast Telegraph that he is physically sick at the leniency of the sentence.
And victim, Michelle, who is originally from North Down wants to warn others about the dangers posed by the pervert who took her away and traumatised her at such a young age.
Michelle told Dublin Live: “He raped me in Dublin when I was eight in Inchicore.
“Billy wasn’t really in my life until I was eight, it was my birthday and he appeared in my house to ask my mummy if he could bring me to Butlins in Dublin.
“This holiday was planned with his girlfriend and kids, he said there was an extra place if I wanted to go.
“Mummy was a bit weary but she said yes because I had never been on holiday before, but there was no holiday.
“I was meant to be there for two weeks, but he told her that I was having such a good time so we stayed for three. It was constant from the minute I got there until the end.
“He took me to his flat in Dublin and raped me. I was terrified.
“She must have known something was up and showed up where he worked.
“He took me out of Northern Ireland to do it. I got my justice in the Courts in Dublin when I was 11.”
Michelle wrote out a note and drew a picture of what her uncle had done to her. The rape was reported to police and she gave a statement in Dublin and then gave evidence at a trial.
Billy Adams was found and sentenced to 12 years in the Republic, but managed to secure a transfer to Maghaberry Prison.
He took advantage of the 50 percent remission rule meaning he was released in 2004.
Michelle explained: “There had to be more victims down in Dublin, he worked in a snooker hall in Inchicore and that’s how I got to speak to my mummy. Back in the nineties there were no mobile phones.
“There has to be victims who were in and out of that snooker hall, I need them to know if he hurt you in any way that I believe you.
"Come to me and I will help you, it’s the only way we can keep this man behind bars forever, he’s a dangerous character.
“If it was so long ago, people will think that nobody will believe me, there won’t be any evidence. But there’s new cases that prove it.
“I believe you, I believe how evil he is, I’ll help you and I’ll support you. This is the only way we can do it, asking others to come forward.
“He’ll get out and he’s not an old man, he’s only in his fifties. He’ll be able to go under the radar again. It’ll be first on his agenda when he gets out.”
Unfortunately Michelle wasn’t his only victim. Once he was released from prison he moved to England with the help of Catholic priest Fr Jeremiah McGrath where he found his next victim,
Michelle connected with Jade and they “have a bond that nobody else understands.”
Michelle said: “He was straight on a boat over to Liverpool after that. There was nothing stopping him getting on a boat.
“When he got there, he immediately made friends with Jade's family and targeted her. He kidnapped her and took her to Blackpool with the help of Fr McGrath.
“They were planning on taking her to America, but only a family member found him on the internet.
“He changed his name when he got to Liverpool and he didn’t think anyone would find out. Eventually they got Jade.
“They took him to court and he got sentenced to 15 years and I was under the impression that he was under life license and he wasn’t allowed to leave Liverpool ever again.
“And six weeks ago I found out that he was being convicted again.
“We need people to know his name and his face. He’s going to target vulnerable mothers when he gets out. If anyone resembles him, get away because he’s going to hurt your kids.
“It’s the only way people will be safe, it’s awful that victims are having to call out for more victims to come forward. But this is what has to be done.
“What will we do if the judge lets him out and he’s in the public again? He could target anybody. I’m convinced he will murder the next child he gets. He will kill them, he is not going to let them go. He’s perfected his technique over the years.
“He took me, he took Jade away, he’ll not stop.”
Michelle and Jade waived their right to anonymity to warn others about the dangers posed by the Ballymena-born pervert.
She said: “I waived my anonymity when I was 15, because he didn’t have to sign the sex offenders list because the crime was committed in Dublin but we overturned that law.
“He’s not stupid, he knows the system. As soon as he gets out he’ll change his name by deed poll. It’s ridiculous.”
Michelle’s grandfather was Ireland’s worst paedophile John Adams, who received the first ever full life sentence in the history of the state for abusing young girls in Co Louth in the 1990s.
Gardai discovered four albums of photographs hidden in the pensioner’s house which included his three victims aged between six and 10, either photographed by Adams, or photographed by each other at his direction, in acts of sexual violence.
He died in prison in 2019 having shown no remorse for his crimes.
Michelle said: “There’s convicted child abusers in my family, his daddy was described as Ireland’s worst paedophile, he got the first life sentence in Ireland. He died last year in Mountjoy. “
Support from the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre can be found here.
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