I was violently raped by a Hollyoaks actor who groomed me after finding me on Facebook when I was 14 – he made me take sexual photos in my school uniform. This is why I believe there are other victims out there too
A woman has revealed how she was subject to horrific abuse after being groomed as a school girl by an actor and professional sportsman.
Rhiannan Egan, now 27, was subjected to vile assaults by predator, Philip Hamer, 34, after being targeted on Facebook at the age of 14.
Horrifically, the monster, who appeared as a bit part actor in Hollyoaks and Coronation Street, went onto to rape Rhiannan three years later when she was 17.
The massage therapist bravely reported him to the police in 2023, and, along with other survivors, saw him caged for 36 years in February this year.
Now, Rhiannan, from Manchester, has bravely waived her right to anonymity to share her harrowing story and encourage other survivors of abuse to come forward.
She says: ‘Philip destroyed me.
‘I was just a child when he groomed me.
‘Reporting him felt like the biggest relief.
‘And I’ve taken the power back now he’s been put behind bars.
Rhiannan Egan, now 27, was subjected to vile assaults by predator, Philip Hamer, 34, after being targeted on Facebook at the age of 14.. She is pictured left in her school uniform aged 14, and right after being raped turned to drink to numb the pain
Rhiannan aged 14 in her school uniform during Hamer’s grooming
Messages between Hamer and Rhiannan a week after the rape where she tells him she said no to his advances hundreds of times
‘I want to use my voice to encourage others who are being abused not to suffer in silence like I did.
‘You can achieve justice and will be believed.’
Rhiannan, met Hamer in 2012, when she was just 14.
He messaged her out of the blue, over Facebook, telling her she was ‘beautiful’.
He was 21, and worked as an extra in Hollyoaks, Fresh Meat and Coronation Street – while he also played ice hockey for Great Britain and had jobs at Manchester United and Manchester City football clubs.
At the time, Rhiannan was vulnerable after going through a rough patch at home.
She says: ‘I thought it was cool that I had an older boyfriend who had a car.
‘Because he also had a professional job as an estate agent, I trusted him.
‘He would constantly tell me I was beautiful and flatter me.
‘He made me feel special.’
Hamer was jailed for 36 years in February this year
Rhiannan pictured aged 16 before she was raped by the sick paedophile
Just weeks later, Hamer picked Rhiannan up in his car one night, taking her to a secluded woodland area.
He brought her a bottle of wine and the pair drank.
Rhiannan remembers: ‘After I got drunk, he made me perform sex acts on him.
‘Thinking we were boyfriend and girlfriend, I just wanted to please him, so went along with it.’
Over the next year, Rhiannan would see Hamer several times a week.
Always under the cover of darkness.
He forced her to keep their ‘relationship’ a secret.
With her telling her mum she was going to see friends.
If Rhiannan ever asked him to meet for lunch or during daylight, he’d fob her off with an excuse.
Rhiannan pictured after the rape in her late teens before she was raped by Hamer
Rhiannan pictured in her early 20s went off the rails after the abuse
After a few months, he started taking her to his house where he lived with his mum and stepdad.
She says: ‘He’d sneak me upstairs to his bedroom where we’d have rough sex.
‘Many times he’d tie my feet and hands together tightly with cable ties, leaving red marks.
‘I’d tell him it hurt but he didn’t care. It was awful.’
Often, if Rhiannan refused his sexual advances, he’d tell her ‘I’m not dropping you home unless you do it’.
She continued: ‘He was really aggressive and would push my head down violently into his privates.
‘Sometimes I couldn’t breathe as he made me perform sex acts.
‘But I was infatuated by him. I see now it was grooming and manipulation.’
Hamer even made her take sexual pictures on her bed or in the school toilets dressed in her school uniform.
A year on, aged 15, she stopped seeing Hamer.
The massage therapist bravely reported him to the police in 2023, and, along with other survivors, saw him caged for 36 years in February this year. Rhiannan pictured aged 16 before the rape
Rhiannan has bravely waived her right to anonymity to share her story, pictured today
After that, Rhiannan started skipping school and drinking alcohol.
Soon, she began self harming.
She says: ‘I felt suicidal and I didn’t know why.
‘Most days I didn’t want to get out of bed.
‘I felt worthless.’
When Rhiannan turned 17, just after starting college, Hamer messaged her out of the blue on Facebook.
She’d just split with a boyfriend and was feeling low.
Hamer invited her over to his.
She says: ‘Before I went, I told him “Don’t try anything on with me, I’m on my period”.
‘I was happy to catch up as friends, but nothing more. I made that clear.
‘He agreed.’
Arriving at his home, Hamer offered her a glass of wine.
After waiving her anonymity, Rhiannan has bravely shared messages she exchanged with Hamer after he attacked her
Hamer forced himself on Rhiannan – and later acted confused when confronted by it
Hamer clearly didn’t see the scale of his attack and texted Rhiannan
Only, when he didn’t return from the bathroom ten minutes later, Rhiannan began to worry.
When he called her upstairs, she reluctantly went.
She says: ‘As soon as I got to the bedroom, he grabbed me, threw me to the floor and straddled me. Pinning my wrists down.
‘He yanked down my tights, and forced himself on me.
‘As he raped me I told him ‘no’, over and over again.
‘But he didn’t listen. His pupils were big and black, like the devil’s.’
Afterwards, Rhiannan fled to the bathroom and locked herself inside.
But after pretending to go downstairs, Hamer barged in and raped her again.
With no money to get a taxi home, Hamer then dropped Rhiannan close to her house.
Rhiannan pictured after the rape turned to drink and partying to numb the pain
Rhiannan headed out drinking and partying after the attack
She says: ‘I’ve never been so terrified in my life.
‘As soon as I opened the car door, I bolted it away from him.
‘I never wanted to see his face again.’
Back at home, she filled the bath with bleach and scrubbed her body.
A week later, Hamer messaged her, acting like nothing had happened.
She says: ‘When I called him out on his behaviour that night, telling him I’d told him ‘no’ hundreds of times, he began gaslighting me. Pretending he’d done nothing wrong.
‘I told him I never wanted to see him again.’
Months passed and Rhiannan visited her GP and confessed she’d been raped.
She says: ‘I told him I didn’t want to be alive, and the doctor just gave me anti-depressants.
‘It made me feel so much worse and that I’d never be believed if I reported Philip.’
Two told how they lost their virginity because of his sexual abuse, while another teenage victim said she had attempted suicide multiple times because of the trauma she suffered
From then on, Rhiannan’s life was chaotic.
She explains: ‘I drank all the time and partied hard.
‘I had unhealthy relationships.
‘I just wanted to feel numb.’
Nearly a decade on, in 2023, Rhiannan found the courage to report him to the police.
Nine months after providing her statement, she discovered more of Hamer’s victims had come forward.
As well as wor
Last month Hamer was jailed for 36 years, with a minimum of 28 years with an extended license of eight years.
He was convicted of a total of 41 sexual offences against seven victims, including grooming and two counts of rape against Rhiannan.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Hamer had a ‘wholly distorted view of children as sexual objects’.
Jailing him, judge Sarah Johnston, said: ‘These were no relationships, you manipulated and groomed these young girls, inexperienced and impressionable as they were, in a way that was controlling and coercive.’
She described him as ‘highly manipulative’, saying he had played ’emotional games’ with his victims and ‘exploited their naivety and vulnerably for you own sexual objectives’.
The judge said Hamer’s version of events was ‘particularly callous’, accusing one victim of ‘prostituting herself’ and another of being the ‘mastermind’ of what happened.
She added: ‘You have developed a wholly distorted view of children as sexual objects.’
The judge handed him an extended prison sentence, which comprises 28 years in prison and a further eight years on licence.
Hamer blamed his crimes, which spanned 2010 to 2023, on his immaturity saying he was ‘capable of acting like a teenager’ and ‘possibly did did some things out of loneliness.’
Police first received a complaint relating to one girl in 2011 but an investigation wasn’t launched until 2023 when other victims came forward.
Rhiannan, who was in court to see him sent down, says: ‘I believe there are more survivors of his out there.
‘Knowing he worked as a ice hockey coach abroad means he had access to other children.
‘I hope they read this and find the courage to report him too.
‘He never deserves to be free to hurt anyone else again.’
This story contains details of sexual abuse. If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this story, you can contact Rape Crisis online or on 0808 500 2222
