Okwudiri Straightman Nwali

Robbed of innocence: Theirs should have been an idyllic middle-class childhood. Instead they were sexually abused by their stepfather. Their story's harrowing - but these courageous sisters insist it must be heard

• Rebecca Rorks and her two sisters suffered dreadful cruelty and sex abuse
• 'We'd have black eyes, thick lips, bleeding noses,' said Rebecca, now 30
• Last May, encouraged by support of victims of historic child abuse, they pressed charges against stepfather Victor Farley
• Rebecca told of how social services visited their home around dozen times
• But no one in their home town of Tenterden, Kent, listened to cries for help 

Rebecca Rorks has a photograph taken when she was a tiny scrap of a child with her two sisters in the bath. They are shown waist deep in bubbles, giggling as they pose as the three wise monkeys — see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.

The seemingly innocent play-acting of the proverb about turning a blind eye is chillingly fitting.

For behind the smiles, these poor little girls were enduring a childhood of dreadful cruelty and sex abuse at the hands of the monster who took the photograph, their stepfather Victor Farley.

Yet not one childcare professional in the sought-after market town of Tenterden, Kent, where they lived on a leafy crescent, saw fit to listen to the girl's cries for help.

Rebecca Rorks (left) and her sisters Georgina Farley (centre) and Victoria Darragh (right)  suffered dreadful cruelty and sex abuse at the hands of their stepfather Victory Farley