For Lizzie Jones, a home burglary in Wrexham in 2011 turned out to be a blessing. It exposed a dark chapter of her life—years of sexual abuse by her father, David Terrence Pethig.
That same year, a thief broke into their home and stole her dad's laptop. The burglar found thousands of child abuse images on the device and reported it to authorities. Pethig faced 17 charges of creating indecent images and two for possessing indecent images and videos. However, he was not remanded to jail, BBC News reported.
How and When it All Started
Lizzie shared that the abuse began when she was still a child. Among her father's actions were shoving a thermometer inside her, even when she was not ill.
Additionally, Pethig allegedly used games to get close to her. Despite resisting, her father continued to do so against her wishes.
Jones revealed that the abuse worsened in the 80s, when she was 11 and in secondary school. She added that she was raped frequently in the 90s, as her mother was often away working late.
The sexual abuse stopped in her mid-teens, with her father begging her not to tell anyone. That was until the laptop with explicit images was stolen and reported to authorities.
Laptop Exposé
What upset Lizzie was her father not getting jail time after the discovery of indecent digital materials on his laptop. She felt it was time to stand up for herself and began by revealing the abuse she had endured from Pethig.
She was already 42 years old when she told her mom about the sexual abuse she suffered. Lizzie explained why she could not tell her before, saying that her father made threats against her.
'My mother always knew there was something wrong about him,' Jones said. 'She said to me she wouldn't have let nothing happen to me if she had known.'
After agreeing, they both reported the matter to police. Pethig was arrested in 2023, charged with 15 indecent assaults, three rapes, assault by penetration, and attempting to commit a serious sexual assault.
He was sentenced to 18 years in custody, with a 12-month extended licence period.
Justice Served but Trauma Remained
For Lizzie, justice was served. However, it was bittersweet in a way since her mother was not alive before the verdict was passed.
'Mother died just before the court case so she's never seen what happened,' Jones shared. 'I have got all I wanted. I've got him locked up, but it doesn't take away all the memories.'
Jones also admitted that while it seemed like a moral victory, the dark memories still remained.
'It's been hard to me. I have written poetry books about the abuse, my self-harm is to overcome the trauma and now I've started therapy and hopefully that will help the night terrors,' she said.
According to a report by BBC, about 25,000 children are sexually abused in Wales annually, but not all cases come to the attention of authorities. The Welsh government is doing its part with a comprehensive long-term strategy that aims to curb child sexual abuse in the country, the first of its kind in the UK.
