A sexual abuse victim has come forward to tell his story to a regional daily journalist after waiving his right to keep his identity secret.

Hannah Bridgeman, community reporter for the Lancashire Post, convinced 18-year-old Callum Genovese to open up about his ordeal after he waived his automatic right to lifelong anonymity.

Hannah, pictured, contacted Mr Genovese after she was sent a brief press release by a charity called Victim Support detailing the help it had given to him.

She then got confirmation from Mr Genovese that he had waived his right to anonymity before interviewing him.

Hannah, 22, has been hired by the Preston-based Post under the banner of the Facebook-funded Community News Project to reconnect with communities in Garstang and North Preston.

She passed the media law module while completing the BA Journalism course at the University of Sheffield and in now training remotely with Sheffield College to achieve the full NCTJ Diploma in Journalism.

Discussing the story, Hannah said: “The press release was really short. It explained that Callum had done a charity walk and wanted to publicly thank Victim Support. The line that grabbed me was that he wanted to thank them for their support during his sexual abuse.

“I got confirmation that he had waived his right to anonymity and asked for his details to contact him directly.

“I had a phone call with him and he again stated that he was waiving his right to anonymity. I thought it was important to get an email from him and the charity to confirm that in writing. I had it in my notes from the interview too.”

The finished piece was run by the Post as a two-page feature about Callum’s experiences and how he was supported by Victim Support when his abuser went to court.

Hannah added: “It’s been really useful to have that recap of media law, as it was fresh in my mind when I spoke to Callum.

“Callum was more focused on getting the line out that he wanted to thank Victim Support. He didn’t want me to name his attacker; he wanted to focus on the support he received.

“I did feel it was important to get that positive angle. It wasn’t about him reliving the trauma, it was a victim turned into a survivor story.

“It was important for me, because I had not done a story like this before, to handle it really sensitively and ensure that I wasn’t going to rehash old wounds.”