A MAN raped by a nun in a catholic children's home has told how he has finally met the daughter they produced together, who greeted him with the words: "Hello Dad, it's about time."

Edward Hayes, 76, revealed last month how he had been sexually abused by Sister Mary Conleth in the 1950s and she had fallen pregnant.

The disgraced nun, who has since died, later gave birth to a baby girl who was then adopted.

Now OAP Edward has been contacted by his 62-year-old daughter and the pair have had an emotional meeting.

Edward said: “I was so nervous. But when we saw each other we hugged straight away.

"She said ‘Hello Dad, it’s about time’. We must have shared around 800 cuddles.

“It was fantastic, spot on, we even look alike. We have the same eyes and nose. There is no need for a DNA test, you could see we were related.

“She has my sense of humour and likes a joke, just like me.”

He added: "I didn’t think a child, who was born after rape, would ever know their true beginnings, so would never come forward.

“I thought the circumstances were too unusual.

“The best I could hope for was to keep appealing for help from the Catholic Church, and I didn’t hold out much hope for that.

“And then, I didn’t in a million years think they would ever want to meet me. I just wanted to know the child was okay and what had happened.”

And his daughter, who asked not to be named, said: "It was a day of pure joy for me and my family.

"After 20 years of looking for my father, William Hayes, I have found my father at 62 at last, and my children have a grandfather.

"We look so much alike - it's amazing."

Edward, who was abused between the ages of 12 and 14, couldn’t believe it when he found out his daughter had been trying to find him too.

Now the former printer, his daughter and her four children – Edward’s grandchildren – are looking forward to forging a future together where they are hoping to rectify the horror of their pasts.

They met for the first time in London last Sunday (26 April), when they cried and embraced, shared stories and vowed to keep in touch.

Edward said: “It was fantastic, spot-on. This is it now, now that we have found each other. My twilight years are going to be good ones.”

His abuse by nun came to light in April 1956 at the John Reynolds Home at Lytham St Annes, Lancs.

He was sent to back to his hometown of Carlisle while Sister Conleth went to Guildford, Surrey, to give birth, before going returning to Lytham and then later back to Ireland.

There, the ex-nun got on with her life and had children of her own, two sons and two daughters.

It was those children who discovered their mother’s first child ten years ago after their mother died in 2002.

Edward’s daughter had already been in touch with her biological mother’s family for the last decade and decide to meet her father when his story became public.

When Edward's story hit the shelves, the nun’s family recognised her name and told the nun’s daughter it must be her.

Edward said: “Of course it is a massive blow for her family. They are struggling to come to terms with being told their mother was a rapist.

"I don’t think they believe it, that she was capable of that.”

Edward’s daughter has so far said she does not wish to be named.

Edward said: “She feels guilty that, while we are very happy, they are going through an awful lot. She feels a lot for her other family and doesn’t want to rub it in.”

We have decided to protect Edward’s daughter’s identity, though she agreed we were able to show photographs of their first meet together.

In the photographs, the love and delight are clearly etched on Edward’s face.

On meeting his daughter he discovered she had been adopted when she was a baby to a woman in Guildford, Surrey, and was later raised at a boarding school run by Salesian nuns, an order of nuns originating in 1872.

For the past 20 years, the woman had been trying to find her father, once even going to see an Edward Hayes who lived in Lytham. But, of course, it was not him.

Edward said: “It is so lovely to find out my daughter had been trying to find me too.

“Since speaking out about this, it has been such a whirlwind. I have come from a dark place to seeing things completely differently.

“Knowing part of the family history has allowed me to come to terms with what happened in my past.

“I have forgiven Sister Mary Conleth. The more I think about it, the more I think she did what she did out of love for me.

“To find out she had come back to Lytham, I think possibly to find me, and also to discover she put my name of our daughter’s birth certificate, suggests she loved me.

“I have also come to realise how much it has helped me to speak out. I have had nothing but compassion from people who I’ve met and seen what I have been through.

“I was always scared to even face people, but I am no longer afraid.”

However, Edward’s mission is still not over.

He said: “The only downside in all of this now is the failure of the Catholic Church, who have refused to help me all along and know more about my story that I would like to find out.

“I will continue to fight to fill in the gaps of my history and for them to truly acknowledge what they have put me through.”

After leaving children's home Edward was adopted by another family but was a troubled young man.

He joined the army and left after five years in 1969 after developing an ulcer as a consequence of alcohol abuse and was given a discharge.

He later married and had two children but is now divorced.