A woman who was abused by her own grandfather from the age of 13 gave away her own right to lifelong anonymity and revealed the messages he sent to her. 22-year-old Jade, who is a mother to two children, gave a harrowing account of how her grandad Joseph Edwards, 69, would take her away on secret afternoon trips and molest her.
The abuse started when she was 13 and began with small touches on her backside. She narrated how they would go to the seaside together. Edwards, who denied all allegations, has been jailed for 15 months by Liverpool Crown Court after being found guilty of six offences of sexual activity with a child.
Jade told the Liverpool Echo: "I thought it was weird when he started to touch my bum, he never did that with any of the other kids. We had a really special bond, though, and he listened to me when a lot of my other family members wouldn't."
Jade said: "When I was 15, he started kissing me, I can still remember feeling his tongue, it was awful. He then started trying to put his hand between my legs and touching me there."
Edwards would carry out his abuse mostly in his car as he took Jade out on day trips to Southport, Merseyside. "We'd always go up to Southport in his car and he'd get me a can of Dr Pepper and a pizza. Our trips were always a secret, I could never tell my nan or any other family members where I was going, and it was always in Southport and in his car where most of the abuse took place."
Jade had a difficult relationship with her family growing up and she found it very confusing because her grandad was the "only one who looked out for me."
"I knew the difference between right and wrong as I got older, but he was the only one who was there for me. It was hard to turn my back on him. I always told myself that the latest abuse would be the last time."
The abuse did not seem to end and Edwards would be very jealous of her relationships and stopped her from seeing her friends. "He'd talk about moving to Wales with me. He got me a tattoo for my 16th birthday, and I made him get my nan's name as a tattoo, but he said to me 'I wish it was your name instead'."
Struggling to cope with her conflicting feelings, Jade messaged her grandad in 2012 asking him why he acted the way he did towards her.
In a series of messages, Edwards said: "I love you so much, you make my heart skip a beat. You just do it for me okay. I want you in all ways is that okay? I just want to be happy with you and no one else. I am sorry I can't stop it, I love you so much. I can't get you out of my head, Jade sorry for loving you so much, you're just so good looking okay."
After her partner urged her to report the abuse to the police, she said some family members refused to believe her even after she showed them the incriminating messages.
During the trial, Jade's family stuck by her grandad but she says she has received some comfort after he was found guilty by a jury.
She said: "It feels really good that there is people that believe me, and that the jury believed me.
"When he got sent down, I felt guilty. I couldn't help but think about how he would feel. But what has happened to me has affected me in lots of ways. I've been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and have been referred for counselling to try and get over it — if you ever do get over something like that."
Edwards, of Bootle, Merseyside, repeatedly denied the offences but was jailed on October 9. Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, ordered him to sign on the sex offenders' register for 10 years and he imposed a five-year restraining order to keep away from the victim.
