Predatory podcast: How Jess Howarth triumphed over her abusive stepfather

Her stepfather sexually abused her for years and told her he would kill her and her family. Then she shocked him by doing something unexpected. Listen to the podcast. Warning: Graphic

Each time Jess Howarth thought of exposing her sex offending stepfather, his threats would silence her.

He would kill her family. No one would believe her. Even worse — he convinced her that she wanted it to happen.

“It had been drummed into my head that this is what I wanted. This is why it was happening because I wanted it. And I couldn’t get out of that,” the Victorian mum-of-two said.

The abuse was relentless — often daily, for seven years — and he used the same devious trick, over and over, to get away with it.

“That’s what he would say to me. No one would believe you that this went on because you wanted it as well as I did,” she said.

Jess Howarth defeated her sexual abusing stepfather and had him jailed for his crimes. Picture:Rob Leeson.

“It was like eating breakfast every morning. It was a routine. It was part of the routine every day.”

The messaging stuck, with Ms Howarth convincing herself — as a mere 12 year old — she was to blame.

But that all ended when she discovered her stepfather may have been going to care for more children.

“I just saw red flags straightaway. I started feeling everything that I used to feel like, oh, my gosh, like, what if that’s happening to them? And they’re going through the same thing? And what if I’m just sitting here and not doing anything about it? What if I can be the voice for them?” she said.

LISTEN TO THE PREDATORY PODCAST

In episode seven of News Corp’s Predatory podcast, Ms Howarth tells actor Madeleine West and ex detective Gary Jubelin that as an adult, she went to the police who arrested and charged her stepfather with crimes against her.

In court, he wouldn’t look her in the eye but Ms Howarth knew the balance of power had shifted.

“He knew that his time was over. He knew that was it,” she said.

“To see him sit there was the most rewarding thing ever. To see him sitting there was like, ‘I have my power back.’ You know, [he] used to say that I was worth nothing. And I was a piece of shit. Mate, look at me now. I got my revenge and I won.”

His jail term was one of the longest handed down in Victoria for sex offenders at 25 years with non parole period of 19 years.

He died of cancer last month.

Ms Howarth said the trauma of what happened to her between the ages of 12 and 19 would always be there, but she refuses to be called a victim.

“I’m someone that survived a really shitty situation. And as I tell people, I’m not a victim. I just got dealt the shit cards in life, but I’ve made an amazing life for myself,” she said.

For more details about the Predatory podcast, go to predatory.com.au

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Originally published as Predatory podcast: How Jess Howarth triumphed over her abusive stepfather