‘Humiliation?’
‘Yes.’
‘Violence?’
‘Yes.’
‘Corrective rape?’
‘Yes.’
Bryant sat forward and Kim could see the muscle jumping in his cheek.
‘Why haven’t you reported it?’ her colleague asked.
Megan was ready for the question.
‘Because you guys insist on a complainant. And no one is going to speak up.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because they’ll be slapped with legal action before the sentence is out of their mouth, and you guys won’t do a thing about it.’
Bryant shook his head. ‘I’m sorry but I have to disagree. Any serious complaint would be investigated.’
‘Third November 2017, Sergeant. Go check it out. See if a complaint was acted on.’
Bryant made a note.
‘You remember that date for a reason?’ Kim asked, taking another sip of her coffee.
‘I do, indeed, Inspector. There was a young man, twenty-two years old. He came to me after a month-long stay at the clinic. Electrodes were placed on his penis daily while being shown pornographic material. If his body responded to the stimulus, he was zapped.’
‘He couldn’t leave?’ Bryant asked, crossing his legs.
‘This is wrapped up as treatment. It’s a rod of steel in a furry glove. It’s for your own good, you’re a freak, you’re repulsive, you’re disgusting, hour after hour, day after day. Trust me, you’re going to try and conform.’
‘How did he leave?’ Kim asked.
‘His body stopped responding to the stimulus and he was deemed to have been cured. He was filled with self-loathing and hatred of his own body. He couldn’t look at himself in the mirror, and even talking about his own sexuality induced a panic attack.’
‘What happened?’ Kim asked, finishing her drink.
‘I actively encouraged him to make a report, despite the NDA he’d signed. He spoke to a police officer anonymously, but the officer refused to take any action. Trying to tell your story and not being heard is worse than just keeping it to yourself. After that he was too frightened to raise it again, but he did put a negative comment on the clinic’s website. Two days later he received a legal letter suing him for defamation. The letter also stated he would be sued for legal costs likely to run into tens of thousands.’
‘A scare letter?’ Kim asked.
She’d heard of them before. A letter that hints at everything that can go wrong and the repercussions. It was designed to scare people into backing off completely and keeping their mouths shut.
‘Yes, and it worked,’ Megan continued. ‘He deleted the comment. He was terrified. He had no way to pay legal bills and thought they would take his mother’s house.’
Kim felt the rage growing inside her at the injustice. Always David and Goliath.
‘He was too frightened to continue our sessions. He wouldn’t talk to me in case it got back to them.’
Kim tried to imagine that level of terror. To be too paralysed by fear to share what had been done to you. ‘What happened to him?’ she asked, fearing the worst but needing to know anyway.
‘He died of a heroin overdose a year later.’