TWENTY people have now come forward claiming they were abused as children by a monk living on Caldey Island in the 1970s and 80s.

One of the latest to come forward has said the trauma of being abused by Father Thaddeus Kotik, who died in 1992, almost led to her death.

Speaking to the BBC under a pseudonym, Jenny said she began having nightmares and night terrors at six years old, including vivid dreams of a man watching her in bed and chasing her.

Jenny knew she had been abused as a child in the 1970s, but the details of what happened only became clear when she spoke to her two sisters.

They told her they had also been abused by Kotik when they visited Caldey Island for family holidays.

After piecing the information together she realised how the abuse had led to her life falling apart to the point where she nearly died.

"I became an alcoholic, I had an eating disorder, and I was hanging around with drug addicts and prostitutes," she told the BBC.

"I was in relationships with violent, alcoholic men and all these terrible things nearly ended my life because I was very heavily into drink and drugs, and living with a heroin addict is pretty full on."

Jenny has since turned her life around, and has lived without drink or drugs for 12 years as she has searched for the truth of what happened to her as a child.

After she and her sister shared their experiences with one another, they found the media coverage of allegations that Kotik was a paedophile on the internet.

Jenny remembered how Kotik came to stay with the family for a night in November 1978.

"My sister said he went upstairs to pray and that's when I would have been in bed, asleep, and it all fell into place, that's when he interfered with me - and that's what started all the fear, the night terrors, the sleepwalking and all the problems that got worse and worse until my life nearly ended," she said.

She is now asking for the monastery on the island to be more forthcoming and open with information about the allegations.

Since November last year, 14 people have reported to Dyfed-Powys Police they were abused by the monk, who lived on the island for ten years between 1977 and 1987.

This is on top of six women who received out of court settlements after coming forward last year.

Detective Chief Inspector Jayne Butler of Dyfed-Powys Police said specially-trained officers were investigating and supporting victims of historical abuse and people should report crimes to the force.