ChildLine’s Esther was molested as schoolgirl

CHILDLINE founder and television personality Esther Rantzen has revealed she was molested as a schoolgirl.

She said she was sexually assaulted by a relative in the 1950s.

The former That’s Life star, who ran for parliament in Luton last year, made the claim when interviewed as the helpline charity, which provides advice and support for abused children, prepares to mark its 25th anniversary.

She founded the service in 1986 after a one-off BBC TV programme Childwatch was inundated with calls from desperate children. The charity now offers a 24/7 helpline for children in danger or distress.

Ms Rantzen, 71, said she decided to talk about what happened to her when asked if any one moment in her own childhood had influenced her decision to set up ChildLine. “I felt that it was really incumbent on me, since we encourage children to talk to us, and since the book I’m doing called Running out of Tears is based on adults’ memories of their own childhood, I couldn’t very well not go down that road myself.”

She has described the incident, which happened when she was a schoolgirl, as a “grope” by the man, who was not a blood relative, but “somebody who was called an uncle”.