Sophie Thomas didn’t feel like other teenagers in her youth. Because at the age of 13 she was sexually abused by a man.
“About four months after the event, I hit rock bottom. I was so scared as a kid, my anger had gotten a lot worse, I hid in my bedroom after I finished school,” said Sophie, now 21 years old
Her then 35-year-old perpetrator was sentenced to six years in prison with an extended license of four years for sexual activity with a child. He has also been registered as a sex offender indefinitely and has been banned from working with children. Sophie’s claim to have seen him from a vehicle walking by with a baseball cap and now facial hair is viewed as an attempt at confusion by a source at the Justice Department.
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But, as expected, his crime against Sophie in 2013 had a lasting impact on her life. And it got worse when she believed she saw her abuser near the Aldi store in Llanelli earlier this month after he was released from prison, despite understanding that under his license terms he was out of his Hometown had been exiled.
Dyfed-Powys police said they shared the report of a possible license violation with the probation service. The Justice Department has announced that it will investigate the allegation.
Sophie, who waived her right to anonymity as a victim of sexual abuse but chose not to be pictured, said the alleged sighting brought back memories of her horrific experience.
She said, “It will be and always will be very difficult to explain how much impact this has not only had on my life but also on the mother I am to my children. I’m scared of going out with them I still cry about what happened to me, it changed my life.
Regarding her youth, she said, “My teenage years were over. I didn’t feel like any other teenager.”
For months I tried to convince myself that it never happened.
(Image: Adrian White Photography)
Thirteen-year-old Sophie had called on Hick Street in Llanelli, her perpetrator’s home, to see someone who lived there. He told the unsuspecting boy that the person she had come to was in the house and invited them over – but they weren’t there and instead he cursed Sophie.
Traumatized by what had happened to her, the young teenager then went to school and confided in a friend who told an employee who then called the police – and her perpetrator was arrested shortly afterwards. But Sophie’s ordeal didn’t end there – she had to testify in Swansea Crown Court during a three-day trial the following year, reliving her experience.
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Sophie said: “For months I tried to convince myself that it never happened, but it was very difficult as the police kept contacting me all the time. When I finally realized that when I was 14 I had to face reality, to go to court. it hit me.
“When found guilty, it was like a load had been lifted from my shoulders. I finally realized that I could go out without the risk of seeing him, but I would rarely go out alone. Teenagers went to that Weekends off. ” and after school I was always the one who stayed inside. It was a very difficult time for me.
“I had no one to talk to, I didn’t get professional support until after the trial, so I did it on my own for a year. I went through the hardest part on my own. At the age of 13 so 13 a traumatic experience without help was very difficult, i fell into a severe depression and began to harm myself in ways i wished never to do.
“The impact on my family was very upsetting, they didn’t know what to tell me, I would hate to talk about what happened. My grandmother was the most upset about what this monster had done to me.
“My life was at such a high level back then and I couldn’t have wished for better; I had moved the schools to a much better place where I would get a lot more support in studying in school, then this happened to me that my life had changed and I would never be the same, my teenage years and young adulthood had been taken from me.
“I was very confused why this had happened to me. I thought ‘why me?’ Then I realized that it made me such a strong person to deal with it all by myself. I was a kid when this happened to me. His time in prison is nothing compared to the mental, emotional, and physical punishment he inflicted on me.
“When you are young you think in your head that you would go camping, stay overnight, laugh with your friends, but my childhood was ruined by fear and depression. The people who meet me think I was fine, but the people who are closest to me know the impact this has had on my life. I’m still trying to find myself. His punishment is nothing compared to what I’ve been through and still going through. “
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Since then, life has taken a happier turn for Sophie. They have been in a relationship for five years and the couple have two young children.
She said, “Alex, my partner, really supported me.”
She said he was in the car with her when she believed she saw her perpetrator.
Since he got out of prison, I’ve been scared to go out
(Image: Adrian White Photography)
“I knew immediately it was him, even though he had grown facial hair and was wearing a baseball cap. You don’t forget that someone did something like this to you. I said Alex – that’s him, “she claimed.
“Since he was released from prison, I’ve been afraid to go out. I was afraid to take my kids to the park in case I see him, even though I know he is not allowed in the city he was a big shock. I can’t believe he came back to town, “she claimed.
A spokesman for the Dyfed-Powys Police Department said: “We have received a report of a possible license violation following the release of a man from prison. The information has been passed on to colleagues in the Probation Service as the lead agency in such matters.”