Julia Mulligan says she wanted to reveal assault to let victims know she is ‘by their side’

A police and crime commissioner has revealed that she was raped as a teenager, saying she wanted to encourage other victims to speak out.

Julia Mulligan, who has overseen policing in North Yorkshire since 2012, told the Yorkshire Post she was raped when she was 15 and had kept it secret for 36 years.

The 51-year-old said she wanted to let other victims know she was “by their side”.

Mulligan, who grew up in a North Yorkshire village, said she did not report the incident to police as she partly blamed herself for the ordeal and was only able to tell her family and closest friends about it late last year.

Mulligan, who took over the governance of North Yorkshire’s fire and rescue service as well as its police force last year, said her job had brought her into contact with many vulnerable women.

She wrote: “I have spent time with children who have been exploited, and I know in different circumstances, that could have been me.

“Like many others, my past is material to who I am today, and what I do today. So, when I listen to these people, I feel it might make more of a difference to say that not only am I on their side, but I am also by their side.”

She added: “I’ve spent years pretending my assault didn’t happen, boxing it off in my brain. Locking it up, full on blaming myself. No longer. I want to help those who have experienced what I went through.”

Earlier this year Mulligan faced an inquiry into her conduct after allegations of bullying behaviour were made against her by a former member of staff. The allegations, which were were upheld by the North Yorkshire police and crime panel, were made public last year.

She said: “I know I am far from perfect, indeed I am my own harshest critic. After all, I have spent 36 years beating myself up for a situation that I still think today was partly of my own making.

“I hate to ever think I had either intentionally or unintentionally made someone upset or feel unvalued, and for that I am deeply sorry.

“But those characterisations hurt. I can’t hide that – and they brought everything back I’ve hidden away for so long.”

Since the inquiry, fresh allegations have emerged that she instructed an employee to help distance her from a convicted kidnapping gang leader.

Mulligan, who has twice been elected to the role, is now being investigated over her friendship with businessman Mujeeb ur Rehman Bhutto.

The Conservative commissioner has denied claims that she asked a staff member to delete all references on her personal Facebook page to Bhutto.

Bhutto was an activist for Mulligan as as she stood as Conservative candidate for Leeds North West in the 2010 general election. In 2005 he was sentenced to seven years in prison after he admitted being behind a high-profile kidnapping in Karachi, Pakistan. He later became a member of the Conservative party and then a spokesman for Ukip.