Raped by the dad I tracked down at 13

Monster … Pritchard acting the proud dad on Sarah’s wedding day despite abusing her for six years www.photo-features.co.uk

YOUNG Sarah Williams was overjoyed when she tracked down her biological father, hoping for his love and protection.

But, instead, David Pritchard systematically sexually abused her — from the age of 13 — for six years.

At 19, she finally told police about the attacks but there wasn’t enough evidence to arrest him and the case was dropped.

In a sick twist of fate, the proof she needed only came to light in the days following Pritchard’s death 18 years later — in the form of his pornographic images of her.

The pictures were so damning that police admitted they would have been enough to jail Pritchard for years.

As a vulnerable teen, Sarah had no idea he was taking the pictures because she had always kept her eyes shut to try to block out her ordeals.

Now a mum of four, Sarah says: “When the police first told me about the photos Dad had taken of me, I felt sick.

“It was like he was still abusing me from beyond the grave. His sick pictures prove I was telling the truth.

“Hearing the police saying he would have been locked up gave me some closure.

“I might not have the justice I wanted but I have the proof my father was a sick pervert and I’ve waited a long time for that.”

The nail technician, 37, from Blackpool, had agreed to take part in a ceremony to scatter Pritchard’s ashes in October last year — hoping it would help her finally move on.

It was then that the police delivered the shocking news.

Sarah, who is rebuilding her life with fiancé Darren Croftland, 47, says: “They said a discovery had been made by family friends clearing Dad’s possessions. Taped to the roof of a safe in his bedroom was a memory card full of scanned images.”

They took a look and were horrified to see pictures of a young girl having sex — and went straight to the police.

Officers told Sarah they believed the girl was her and asked her to make a statement. Sarah says: “When I was handed the images I vomited immediately.
“I was looking at a terrified 15-year-old — it was me.”

Pritchard had left the family home when Sarah was three, but she always wanted to meet him so tracked him down.

She says: “We met in a local cafe, I was only 13 then.

“He smiled, wrapped me in his arms and said he’d always thought of me.”

Sarah left her mum’s house to move in with him but, rather than take care of her, he began abusing her.

She says: “I’d been there a month when I woke up to find Dad on top of me. I was a virgin but I knew what was happening. I was sobbing with pain but he didn’t stop.”

The next morning her dad told her it was “their secret”.

Soon his vile attacks began to take place regularly.

Sarah remembers: “I was so scared I would try to pretend I was somewhere else. I kept my eyes closed. But I was too afraid to leave because he had a temper and I had drifted apart from Mum.”

Sarah met her first love at 15 and was pregnant at 16. She had no idea if the baby was her dad’s. When she split from her partner, her father continued to abuse her.

Sarah and her tot moved to a council flat when she was 18 to escape the horror. But her father still raped her on weekly visits.

Tearfully she recalls what happened when she was 19: “I finally flipped when he tried to touch me and chucked him out on the street.

Smiles … but vile dad David kept photographic evidence of him attacking daughter Sarah www.photo-features.co.uk¿

“Neighbours reported the incident to the police and I told them about the abuse. But Dad denied everything. It was beyond heartbreaking.”

Pritchard moved away and Sarah found love again and had another child. But she struggled with parenthood and social services got involved.
Aware of the allegations against Pritchard, they realised he could be the father of her first-born and asked her to do a DNA test.

She says: “Part of me didn’t want to know. I wasn’t sure how I would react if he was Dad’s baby but I also wanted proof Dad had raped me.”

DNA tests showed Pritchard wasn’t the father and he remained a free man.

Sarah became depressed and her kids were taken into care and later adopted. Her relationship also broke down.

She later found love with a new man and, keen to appear normal, asked Pritchard to give her away at her wedding.

She says: “He wasn’t going to be punished so I thought I might as well just try to move on for my own sake.” She later had another two kids. But her issues led to the breakdown of her marriage and the children went into care after she suffered a nervous breakdown.

Her world came crashing down again in 2008, when Pritchard was charged with sex offences relating to another young girl. She says: “I begged the police to reopen my case but they refused.”

Her father was found guilty of two charges of sexual activity with a minor but avoided jail on the grounds of his worsening health.

Sarah, says: “I was gutted. Then he died and there was no justice and no apology.”

When the sick pictures he had made of his daughter were found, she knew there was finally something to show she’d been telling the truth.

Sarah says: “Dad’s vile pictures prove I was truthful. I can’t let him ruin any more of my life. I look forward to a happy future.” –TheSun.co.uk