Jewel Topsfield
When Maria Thomas was told her autistic son had been raped in the bathroom of his group home the missing piece of a ghastly puzzle fell into place.
Ms Thomas had been haunted by a change in her son Matthew’s behaviour but because he is non-verbal she couldn’t work out what had happened.
“Matty didn’t want me to leave him in the shower, he kept holding my hand,” Ms Thomas says. “His behaviour deteriorated, he didn’t want us to go, he kept saying: ‘Stay, stay’.”