A woman who was groomed by her uncle from the age of 12 has waived her right to anonymity to encourage other victims to report historic abuse.
Stacey Jones, 31, of Trethomas, was first abused by her uncle, Robert Davies, almost two decades ago.
Davies, 48, of Plasturtwyn Terrace, Llanbradach, was found guilty of four counts of indecent assault against someone under 16 by a jury at Cardiff Crown Court on April 10.
Known locally as ‘Bobby’, he was sentenced on April 29 for “effectively grooming” Mrs Jones, then Miss Young, from the age of around 12.
Mrs Jones said: “I want to encourage victims to come forward. If they’re too scared to go to the authorities they can approach me for advice on what the process is like.
“It’s a hell of a roller coaster, you open up parts of the past that were buried. I didn’t know who I was at one point. I had to start again.
“I knew I had to deal with it because if I’d carried on the way things were going, I wouldn’t have been any good to anyone.
“So I thought I’m going to face up to it. I had to really for my own sanity.
“I was nearly sectioned because of all the bad stuff I had to relive and I didn’t get out of bed for weeks.
“I’m just nervous all the time and anxious and I can feel it now in my gut.
“But it’s worth it, the judge got it right and when the sentence was handed down I felt a release.”
Davies had denied abusing Mrs Jones and going to the police has torn the family in two.
The court heard how Davies’ abuse of Mrs Jones progressed over two years, from touching her while she was doing a paper round to assaulting her in bed while she baby-sat his daughter at his home.
After the most serious assault, Davies threatened his victim, saying his wife “suspects there’s something going on with us, if she finds out she’ll break your legs”.
Mrs Jones broke down in court when Davies was sentenced while there were shouts of protest from the public gallery.
She said: “I feel happy he’s locked up but it doesn’t feel enough because I want him to admit to it. Just admit to the family that he did it.”
Sentencing Davies, Judge Michael Fitton said: “You were taking sexual gratification out of your abuse of her. She was away from her home, she had no-one there to turn to in the middle of the night.
“The offences occurred over a period of two years. It appears you were grooming her.
“This was your niece. This was the grossest form of abuse of trust.”
In a victim impact statement read to the court by prosecution barrister Claire Pickthawn, Mrs Jones said she suffers from anxiety and that going to court to face her abuser was “soul destroying”.
Mitigating for the defence, Peter Henry-Roberts said Davies’ ability to care and provide for his family should be taken into account, but conceded there had “been a lack of remorse”.
Mrs Jones said she broke her silence when her eldest daughter was at the age her abuse began and said that despite the difficulties, the ordeal had bought her immediate family together.
• A support line for victims of sexual abuse was launched on April 28.
The TST Cymru Sexual Abuse and Rape Support Line is the only national support line in Wales dedicated to sexual violence.
In light of the increase exposure of sexual violence more and more people are coming forward reporting abuse and needing support.
It is estimated there are more than 140,000 people affected by sexual abuse and rape living in Wales today.
The free support line can be contacted on 0808 801 0818.
In the version of this article printed in Caerphilly Observer on April 30, Gwent Police provided us with a picture of the wrong Robert Davies. We apologies for this error and asked Gwent Police for an explanation.
A Gwent Police spokesperson said: “We have identified that the photograph issued was of another individual for which we sincerely apologise. Further enquiries are now being carried out to ascertain the exact circumstances of how the error occurred and to ensure that it will not happen again.”