Paedo babysitter gave me 50p to abuse me, aged 6 – but even after being found guilty, he was allowed to walk the streets

EVERY time she spots a certain coin in her purse, Sarah Keavney’s blood runs cold.  

For an instant, she is six years old again, a 50p piece glinting through the darkness as she is subjected to horrific sexual abuse by her babysitter.

As twisted abuser Peter Hayes carried out his assault on Sarah, he left 50p on her bedside drawers – an image that has haunted her throughout her life.

In October, Hayes, 60, was jailed for five years and four months, for abusing her between the ages of six and eight.

He had threatened that Sarah, 45, would be taken from her family if she ever spoke out. But 39 years on, the mum of five has justice at last – and is now campaigning for the law around child sex offenders to be changed. 

Sarah, from Manchester, who has bravely waived her right to anonymity, says: “For many years, I’ve been tormented by flashbacks: the 50p coin at my bedside, the way he threatened I’d never see my family again if I ever told anyone. 

“When I finally came forward, I was told he would receive a lighter sentence, as historic offences are sentenced based on guidelines from when the crime happened. 

“So he got a shorter jail term because he abused me when I was a child, which is so wrong. 

“He has made the system work perfectly for him. That has to stop. 

“During the months in between his conviction and his sentencing, he was free to walk the streets, too, and nobody had any idea he was a sex offender. 

“The idea of him walking past schools and family homes unnoticed and unsupervised was horrendous. That needs to change. He should have been locked up, away from children, until he was sentenced.”

Sarah and her family met Hayes in 1985, when they moved to Partington, Manchester.

Sarah says: “He was part of the community and lived on our road. He socialised with the adults but didn’t really mix with the kids. 

“However, he would often turn up where we were, which seemed a coincidence at the time.

“He’d appear at the local park, he even turned up at a caravan park where we were staying. 

“Looking back, he ingratiated himself with the adults so that they trusted him.”

Sarah’s mum, Karen, had two regular babysitters but when one let her down, Hayes offered to step in.

Sarah says: “It seemed like he was doing her a big favour. He was offering to miss the night out so that she could go. 

“She made sure we were all in bed before she left.”

But whilst her two younger brothers slept in another room, Hayes crept into Sarah’s room and sexually assaulted her.

She says: “It sticks in my mind that he left 50p on the bedside drawers, maybe as a bribe or a gift. 

“The next morning, it had gone, as though he had been taunting me with it. 

“Perhaps he was worried my mum would see it and ask where it came from. I didn’t think of it at the time, I blocked everything out, but looking back, it sickens me. Why would he do that?”

Sarah says that she was too terrified to speak out.

“I felt very confused and afraid,” she admits.

“I didn’t know what had happened, but I felt it was wrong. 

“Hayes told me I’d be taken away if I told anyone, and I’d never see my family again.

“My parents had recently separated, and so I was already vulnerable. He terrified me into staying silent. 

“The threats went round and round my head and I was so afraid. I was completely on my own, too scared to confide in anyone.”

Hayes babysat a second time and assaulted Sarah again, this time more seriously. 

Still, she was too afraid to speak out. Aged eight, she saw him a final time when he visited her home in an attempt, she believes, to keep her quiet.

She says: “I was playing out when I saw him knock on our door. 

“I hid in the street so I didn’t have to face him, but I felt sure he was visiting to check on me, to remind me of his threats.”

Aged 10, Sarah confided in two of her cousins but swore them to secrecy.

She says: “The abuse overshadowed my whole life. I was a quiet child, withdrawn and anxious, and was bullied at school. 

“In puberty, when I realised what he’d done was actually sexual abuse, I was sickened. 

I had horrible nightmares and flashbacks; I saw his face in my mind last thing at night and first thing in the morning

Sarah Keaveney

“I began drinking in secret to blot out the pain. I felt like damaged goods, like I’d never fall in love or find happiness. I couldn’t move on from it and all my relationships were affected.”

When Sarah was 18, a relative insisted she should tell her mother.

She says: “I blurted it all out but then couldn’t talk about it again. 

“Mum felt guilty, my brothers felt guilty, and I even blamed myself. Yet the only guilty person was out there walking the streets freely. It was so wrong.”

Despite her mother urging her to go to the police, Sarah was unable to face it.

“I had horrible nightmares and flashbacks; I saw his face in my mind last thing at night and first thing in the morning.

“I used to dream of tracking him down and confronting him in his local pub, but if I had seen him, I’d probably have been terrified again, back to being a small child. 

“He had a horrible hold over me which I just couldn’t shake.” 

Aged 24, Sarah met her future wife, Victoria – who she married in 2015 – who urged her to get support. 

After years of counselling and therapy, Sarah finally began to look to the future with hope. She trained as a teacher and became a mother to five children.

Sarah says: “The abuse has hugely impacted the way I parent my own children. I don’t allow strangers in our home. They don’t go on sleepovers. I am very protective.

“My home was my safe place, and he took that away from me.”

As the years went on, Sarah was tormented by the knowledge that Hayes was still walking the streets, with access to other children. In 2019, after watching a documentary on child abuse, she bravely reported him to police.

Almost five years later, moments before his trial at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown was due to begin, Hayes admitted indecent assault on a child and indecency with a child. 

Sarah says: “I didn’t have to give evidence, because he pleaded guilty. But in a way, I wanted to face him.

“He has bullied me all my life and now that has to stop. Whilst it was a relief that he was convicted, it bothered me that he was free all that time before sentencing to walk the streets, without people knowing what he had done. After he was convicted, he should have been locked away.”

Sarah was present at Hayes’ sentencing when, as well as being jailed for over five years, he was also given a Sexual Harm Prevention Order for life and must sign the Sex Offenders Register indefinitely. 

She says: “I worried how I’d react, whether I’d run away or want to challenge him. I was proud of herself for keeping my dignity and seeing justice done.

“I was very disappointed in the sentence, however – if he had been sentenced according to current guidelines, he’d have got much longer.

“He abused me as a child but then he benefitted from the rules from that time.

“I’m glad he’s locked away. More than anything, I’m glad people know who he is and what he did. 

“I’ve waived my anonymity because I want other survivors to read my story and take hope. It is never too late to speak out and pass the shame and the blame onto the perpetrator.

“Now it’s all over, I feel proud that I have found my voice after 39 years and the burden is his to carry. I only hope I can persuade other survivors to come forward also.”