A woman who was abused by her stepfather as a child has revealed how he would put sellotape over her mouth to keep her quiet – after a 20 year battle to bring him to justice.
Mary Doyle, 28, from Newport in south Wales, has bravely waived her right to anonymity to speak out about her evil stepfather Mark Garnett, 52, who was eventually jailed for seven years for indecent assault of a child.
The paedophile put tape over her mouth to keep her quiet, and also pushed her under the water before assaulting her, the court heard during his trial.
Mary said she first reported the abuse when she was taken into care aged six, but the case was dropped a number of times.
It wasn’t until 2011 the CPS decided to take the case forward – and even then it took years more for Garnett to be jailed.
Stay-at-home mother Mary, from Newport, Wales, said: ‘I am relieved he has been sentenced but disappointed that it took so long.
‘Mark took my life and smashed it up. I was deeply affected by what happened to me, but don’t want it to define me.
‘It is sickening to think he was walking the streets for 20 years after what he did to me, but know I can try and start to move on with my own life.
‘I feel like I have a second chance at life and want to show other victims that they can speak up, no matter how much time has passed.’
Mark began dating Mary’s mother when she was four-years-old and quickly moved into their home in Blackwood, South Wales in around 1994.
She said he turned on her when she broke a lightbulb, and the indecent assault happened after her mum took a job at a local pub – leaving Mary alone with him.
During the trial, Newport Crown Court heard how he had put Sellotape over the child’s mouth to keep her quiet, and had pushed her under the water in a bath before assaulting her.
Speaking now, she said: ‘I had told Mark I was going for a bath. He followed me in and started touching me in the tub.
‘I said I would tell my mum and he dunked my head under the water and threatened me, so I kept quiet.’