At the tender age of just eight, Sherry Yvonne Johnson endured her first sexual assault at the hands of a man nine years older, and by ten she had given birth to her rapist’s baby, before being forced into marriage with him at 11.

Her abuser, Alfonsa Tolbert, held the position of deacon at the strict apostolic church where her family attended services.

Describing the horrific abuse, Sherry recalled: “All you had to do was walk down the steps from the church and you’d walk into our kitchen. That’s where he raped me. I woke up with him on top of me. Many times.”

‘I had 6 kids by 17 after being raped at 8, a mum by 10 and married at 11’ – Irish Mirror