Weird: Dad Says He Raped Daughter Because He Couldn’t Afford A Prostitute

A  woman whose mean dad raped her because he “couldn’t afford a prostitute” has spoken out about her ordeal to encourage other victims to prosecute their abusers.

According to Mirror, Sylvia Prescott, from Sunderland, was tormented by dad, Oliver Garside, while she was a teenager but kept the abuse secret for nearly 30 years.

The now 47-year-old couldn’t bring herself to go to the police while her grandmother was still alive for fear that the details of the case would upset her.  But when she died in 2012, Sylvia knew it was time to stand up to her bullying father, 68.

Since Garside, was jailed for eight years in May last year, Sylvia feels like a weight has been lifted and wishes she had gone to the police sooner.

She hopes that her story will help other women to find the strength to prosecute their abusers, even if they are family members.

Sylvia said: “I was terrified that I wouldn’t be believed. The abuse happened such a long time ago and it took all the strength I had to go to the police, but in the end I’m so glad I did. The prosecution were able to build a strong case against my dad and he pleaded guilty to the abuse meaning I didn’t have to go through the trauma of a trial. It was during the sentencing that the judge said my dad’s excuse for the abuse was that he couldn’t afford a prostitute. I was sickened. What kind of defence was that? However, I finally feel free to live my life without him hovering over me and I should have done it sooner. I am so thankful for the support of my children and my husband, I don’t know where I would be without them.”

Garside would drag the teenager around the house by the hair, demanding she clean floors and do dishes.

She said: “I was afraid of my father. He and my mum split when I was one and I lived with my grandmother until I was 11, then all of a sudden he wanted me to come and live with him. The first time he abused me I knew I had to go along with it, but I never imagined how much worse it would get.”

Sylvia’s husband Paul, 52, had no idea about the abuse and didn’t find out until Sylvia decided to go to the police.

She said: “I didn’t want anyone to know, it ate me up and I was very very depressed, I even tried to kill myself, I had to have my stomach pumped because I took an overdose two years ago. Everything was getting too much but I didn’t feel comfortable telling anyone while my gran was still alive, it would have killed her to know what went on.”

Sylvia kept her ordeal to herself for almost three decades, but her dad was convicted of the historic abuse after pleading guilty to two charges of rape and one of indecent assault last year.

At court, the judge told him: “You told the author of the pre-sentence report you would rather have paid a prostitute  but you did not have the money to do so.”

Sylvia said: “I was disgusted by his defence. It is sickening to think that could be any kind of excuse. I feel like a weight has been lifted, I’m so relieved that he’s in jail now and I can breathe again.”

Source: mirror.co.uk