THE sister of Scotland’s youngest mum last night vowed to stand by her — and
the brother who raped her when she was only 11.
Dionne Middleton, 18, claims she does not want to take sides over the
devastating sex attack on Tressa Middleton which tore her family apart.
She accepts her brother Jason, then 16, forced himself on his sister and got
her pregnant, leading to the youngster giving birth aged 12.
But devoted Dionne insists both siblings now need her support — and even
accused Tressa of lying when she said Jason had started molesting her when
she was aged seven.
Dionne revealed: “I feel like I’m being pulled in two directions.
“Tressa and Jason say they don’t want me to take sides but I’m stuck in the
middle. I love Jason with all my heart. I would trust my brother with my
life.
“But I love Tressa the same. And I would never choose between them.”
Dionne told how she grew up in a home rife with drugs and boozing.
Her mum Tracey Tallons, who died in 2012, aged 41, often allowed visitors into
their flat in Armadale, West Lothian, to drink and get stoned.
Dionne said: “My mum did try her hardest but drugs came first for her.
“My childhood was terrible. I was known as the sister of a rapist and
Scotland’s youngest mum.
“I didn’t even know what ‘rapist’ meant back then. I was only nine.
“Yet other kids bullied me — kicking and hitting me or pulling my hair. I
didn’t know what to believe.” Dionne maintains her brother — jailed in 2009
for the attack — is not a monster.
And she insists she does not believe her sister’s claim in her new
autobiography, Tressa: The 12-Year-Old Mum, that Jason was a serial abuser.
Dionne revealed she has some memories of the night she believes her sister
fell pregnant. She said: “There was a party in our house and everyone was
drinking and taking drugs — even Tressa.
“She and Jason ended up in the same bed and that’s when it happened.
“The next day there were hushed conversations about who not to tell but I was
too young so I didn’t understand.
“Things went back to normal between them. Then it came out Tressa was
pregnant.
“As far as I knew, the dad was another boy. That’s what she told everyone. I
remember her having a big bump and I was excited about the thought of her
coming home with her baby.”
Tressa gave birth to a girl in 2006 but later had to give her up for adoption
after they spent time in foster care.
Dionne added: “It was hard when Tressa and her wee girl went to foster parents
instead. I missed my sister. We were so close.
“Only years later did it click for me what had happened.
“When I found out Jason was the dad, I did feel a bit sickened. But I was
also upset when he was jailed.
“As far as I’m concerned, Tressa has lied about how long the abuse went on
for.” Dionne was also put into care shortly after Tressa, now 21, gave birth
and rarely saw the baby before she was adopted in 2009. She said: “It breaks
my heart that I may never see my little niece again.
“Tressa gets two letters a year from the new parents. I’ve heard she’s doing
well.
“But I would have loved to have been able to watch that wee girl growing up.”
Dionne has kept in touch with Jason, now 25, but admits she has never pressed
him for details of the rape.
She said: “He phoned me a few times from jail but I’ve never asked him about
what happened with Tressa. I think he’d feel awkward talking about it to me.
“He knows he’s done wrong — but so has Tressa by making up some lies.”
Dionne, of Broxburn, West Lothian, hopes to study childcare at college. But
she accepts her family rift will never heal.
She said: “I would love if it was a case of brother and sisters reunited. But,
sadly, that’s not going to happen.”
Outraged by book’s child ordeal ‘lies’
By GAIL CAMERON
DIONNE insists she will not read her big sister Tressa’s autobiography —
because she claims it is “full of lies”.
The 18-year-old revealed she was angered after hearing about horrifying abuse
accusations made in the controversial book.
She said: “I’ve been told what’s in Tressa’s autobiography, but I won’t read
it myself.
“As far as I’m concerned it’s full of lies. I reckon she is trying to get
attention.”
The memoir — called Tressa The 12-Year-Old Mum — contains allegations about
their rapist brother Jason, who is accused of abusing his sister when she
was aged just seven.
Tressa, now 21, also appeared on ITV show This Morning to talk about her
ordeal.
She told how she was treated like a prostitute when she was just nine, by men
who would abuse her and give her pocket money.
Dionne revealed the expose had rocked the troubled family and opened up
painful old wounds.
She said: “It’s dragging up things which should be left alone now. Jason is
getting a hard time in prison because of this.
“This all began when I was nine. I have lived literally half my life with this
hanging over me. I’ve had enough of it.
“I refuse to let it destroy me though. I’m determined to stay strong.”
Presents & money for caged fiend
EXCLUSIVE by GAIL CAMERON
TROUBLED Tressa sent her rapist brother gifts in jail, her sister claimed
yesterday.
Dionne insisted the young mum gave Jason money and other presents after he was
caged for molesting her.
But she said the sex fiend, now being held in Glasgow’s Barlinnine jail,
wanted nothing to do with Tressa after he accused her of lying over claims
he subjected her to years of abuse.
Dionne,18, added: “Jason despises her. He wants nothing to do with her.
“He says she’s not a sister to him.
“Tressa is open about sending stuff to him, like money and even a Christmas
present one year.
“Jason doesn’t want any of it though.”
In her autobiography, Tressa revealed she was devastated when her mum Tracey
Tallons — who died aged 41 in 2012 — refused to turn her back on Jason.
But she said she now forgives her brother for attacking her. She wrote: “I had
to forgive, in order to let myself become whole again.” Dionne last night
said: “At my mum’s funeral, Tressa wanted to go and give Jason a cuddle —
but she didn’t because she wasn’t allowed.
“He just didn’t want anything to do with her though.
“That will still be the case when he comes out of prison.
“He wants to keep his head down and get on with things.”