'I always knew my stepdad was a creep, but no one believed me'

Catherine always had concerns over her stepdad's behaviour, but a simple phone call one day at work proved his sickening behaviour.

Joel Erickson

3 min read

April 22, 2024 - 2:50PM

Family Life

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Catherine was in her early teens when she first noticed her stepfather’s “controlling and sexual” behaviour.

Paul first entered her life after her parents got divorced when she was nine, and she claims his “violent episodes” started shortly afterwards, although she was never hurt.

In her early teens, Paul began making “inappropriate comments” about Catherine’s body and weight.

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“One time, when I was around 15, he said: ‘if you touch yourself and squeeze your nipples, it will feel really good’,” Catherine told The Daily Mail.

“I just thought, ‘why are you saying that to me?’”

Catherine raised concerns about her stepfather's sexually suggestive behaviour from a young age. Picture: Daily Mail

"It looks like it has been taken on top of your wardrobe"

Paul’s behaviour continued to escalate until one afternoon when Catherine claims he “slapped her a***” while she was patting her dog on her bed.

When she tried to raise her concerns about the incident with relatives, they found it hard to believe her claims about Paul as he was “loved”, but that changed in September, 2021, with a phone call from her brother while she was working at a pharmacy.

“I went outside, and I answered and said ‘Is everything okay?,” Catherine said.

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“He said, ‘I found a photo of you on the iPad’.

“To me, that wasn’t unusual as we had a family iPad, so I said, ‘What’s the problem?’

“He responded, ‘Oh, it was taken in your room … and it looks like it has been taken on top of your wardrobe’.”

Catherine (left) pictured with a friend. Picture: Daily Mail

Stepdad admits to sickening acts

Catherine burst into tears as soon as she hung up the phone, and her colleagues encouraged her to call the police who later found a camera hidden amongst the teddy bears on top of her wardrobe.

Paul later admitted to recording his stepdaughter, with police saying he did it for his “own sexual gratification”.

The Daily Mail reports Catherine underwent a police interview, which she found “terrifying”.

“I cried and screamed at part of it because the one question I remember was, ‘What are you scared of Paul seeing?’,” she said.

“I just said: ‘Me naked and doing what a girl does in her room when she’s naked’. I don’t think it’s ever something that’s going to go away.”

Catherine went to the police after her brother found a photo of her taken from the top of her wardrobe on the family's iPad. Picture: Daily Mail

"It feels like he's just getting a slap on the wrist"

Paul was later charged, convicted and sentenced to 22 months in a UK jail on six charges, including voyeurism.

While Catherine is happy her stepdad was punished for his crimes, she expressed disappointment in the length of the sentence.

“I understand that it’s such a big achievement to get someone like that behind bars, but on my part, I just honestly do think it’s disgusting how short the sentence is,” she told The Daily Mail.

“If the police caught me with cannabis in my bedroom, I’d probably get longer, and I don’t understand it.

“The impact he’s had on me and my whole family, it feels like he’s just getting a slap on the wrist at the end of the day.”

Her stepdad Paul (pictured) was jailed for his crimes. Picture: Daily Mail

"You have impacted every part of my life, and I hate it"

During Paul’s sentencing, Catherine had the opportunity to have a victim impact statement read to the court, where she spoke of the impact of her stepfather’s voyeurism.

“I was rarely sober, drinking and taking different drugs at least four times a week, clubbing until early hours, and winning social bonus points by being the drunkest in any room,” her statement read.

“I just stopped caring. I just wanted to forget and move from one day to the next. You have impacted every part of my life, and I hate it - but in doing so, you have made me the most resilient person I know.

“Throw anything at me, and I can take it because I managed to survive you.”as