Children's teenage years are supposed to be full of learning and laughter but one man has spoken of the unimaginable abuse he received at the hands of the person he trusted most - his mother.

'Hamish' who is now in his 50s, was 12 years old when his childhood innocence was taken away from him by his mum.

The woman who he described as 'mentally unwell' had sex with him one day when he was recovering from sickness.

An Australian man has told the horrifying tale about the sexual abuse he received at the hands of the one person he trusted most in the world - his mother (stock image)

'She had this big bedroom and if we were ever sick or anything like that we'd stay in her bed. One day she just initiated it, she just started touching me and it just went from there,' Hamish told news.com.au.

'She preyed on the fact I was coming into puberty and made me feel important and special.'

Hamish thought he had it all growing up, he lived in a wealthy suburb and went to a private school but all that meant nothing behind closed doors.

He suffered physical and mental abuse that has scarred him for life and was warned to not talk about the sexual abuse saying that he was told that 'people wouldn't understand'.

Hamish said that the abuse only stopped once his mother died when he was 15 but he has carried the scars of those awful three years for a lifetime.

The memories of his traumatic childhood were repressed and Hamish moved on and fell in love and got married in the early 90s.

'Hamish' who is now in his 50s, was 12 years old when his childhood innocence was taken away from him by his mum when she had sex with him (stock image)

Hamish suffered physical and mental abuse that has scarred him for life and was warned to not talk about the sexual abuse (stock image)

Hamish struggled with the abuse and kept it secret from his wife for 20 years until a story surfaced in the news that brought memories flooding back (stock image)

He struggled with the abuse and kept it secret from his wife for 20 years until a story surfaced in the news that brought memories flooding back.

'It's really hard to tell someone you love, "By the way, my mother abused me and I had sex with my mother",' he said.

Unfortunately for Hamish the secret took its toll on his relationship and he and his wife split three years ago after he had an affair.

Hamish wishes he had received some help for the mental scarring and regrets what it did to his relationship

For anyone who may have suffered at the hands of abuse help is available via Mensline 24/7 on 1300 78 99 78 or visit www.mensline.org.au or Lifeline on 131114.