Monster! This woman’s father raped her because he couldn’t afford a prostitute

A woman whose father raped her because he ‘couldn’t afford a prostitute’ took a huge decision recently to talk about out about her ordeal to encourage other victims to prosecute their abusers.
Sylvia Prescott, from Sunderland, was tormented by her father Oliver Garside while she was a teenager but kept the abuse secret for three decades.
Now 47, she 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.
However upon death in 2012, Sylvia knew it was time to stand up to her bullying father, 68.
Narrating her story, 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 sicked.
‘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 didn’t want anyone to know, it ate me up and I was very very depressed, I even tried to kill myself
‘I am so thankful for the support of my children and my husband, I don’t know where I would be without them.’
The ordeal initially began with non-sexual violence. Garside would drag the teenager around the house by her 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.’
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.’
He was jailed for eight years in May last year and Sylvia feels like a weight has been lifted.
Now married with three sons aged 30, 29 and 25, she wishes she had gone to the police sooner.
She hopes her story will help other women to find the strength to prosecute their abusers, even if they are family members.
Sylvia said: ‘I’m so relieved that he’s in jail now and I can breathe again.