A sexual abuse survivor is "angry and hurting" as the "monster" stepfather who terrorised her faces less than a year behind bars.
Roger Light was imprisoned on Tuesday, more than three decades after abusing Sian Probert — the daughter of his partner — when she was a teenager in Grosmont, Monmouthshire.
Sian, now 50, says she now feels "cheated out of a real sentence" after Recorder Paul Lewis sentenced 68-year-old Light to a 20-month sentence of which he will serve only half behind bars. The Cardiff Crown Court judge said he was constrained by the laws at the time of the abuse. The law at the time set a maximum sentence of two years for the offence. Offenders carrying out such attacks today can be jailed for up to 14 years.
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"I do think the law needs to change and the sentencing should be the same as today's laws," said Sian. "Us childhood survivors are the same as today's children. Do we not matter the same?"
Light, of Wern Gifford in Pandy, was found guilty of two counts of indecent assault and he admitted another two counts of indecent assault. They involved sexual touching when Sian was aged 13 to 15.
Recorder Lewis said Sian's mother found details of the abuse in her diary when she was 16. When challenged by Sian's mother, Light said he had sexual contact with Sian after she was 16, the judge added.
A jury acquitted Light of raping Sian. The judge said Sian's mother stayed with Light, who did not disclose his history of abuse when the couple applied for guardianship of a child years later.
Sian came forward to police in 2019. In a statement read in court, she described Light as a "monster" and said his abuse "will affect me until my dying day". The attacks left her a "scared, sad, lonely, hurt girl".
She added: "I take myself back to that dark, fearful place and I am that little girl again. I was a good girl, polite, I did what I was told. I cannot remember what it was like to be a little girl before this monster became my shadow of fear and sadness.
"This man has ruined my life. I feel let down and angry. I worry so much for my little girl. I look at men and think they may be an abuser. How do I tell?"
Sian revealed she has given her daughter a password to use if ever preyed upon by an abuser. She has taught her daughter to "never stay silent and scared like me".
"Adults are not always right," the statement went on. "You do not have to do what they say. Children should be seen and not heard? That is rubbish. You should shout out, little ones."
Recorder Lewis rejected Light's claim that his abuse had "nothing to do" with Sian taking an overdose of tablets years later and needing hospital treatment. The judge said this was "at least in part, a direct result of what had gone on".
Andrew Taylor, mitigating, said: "This is a defendant who not only has no previous convictions at 68, but in my submission can be treated as a man of positively good character.
"He has always worked. When he was 26 he was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, an incurable, long-term autoimmune disease. It has led to this defendant having long-term damage to many of his joints. Many people with that illness find it impossible to work for that reason. Not Roger Light, who is still working."
Mr Taylor told the court his client runs a business training people to drive trailers and plays a "huge part in equestrian events in his community".
Calling for a suspended sentence, the lawyer added: "Because of his age, his illness and no young people being likely to come into contact with him from this point, there is no chance he will reoffend in any way."
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He said it "would not benefit society" to send Light to prison and the defendant is "truly apologetic" that he "couldn't control his emotions and sexual feelings".
Mr Taylor continued: "The man who appears today is not the man who committed these offences. No doubt not a day has gone by without Mr Light reflecting on what he did."
Recorder Lewis said: "The maximum sentence available at the time of the offences was two years in prison. The offence now attracts a maximum sentence of 14 years, but the law requires I apply [no longer than] the maximum sentence at the date the offences were committed."
Shortening the sentence because of the two guilty pleas, the judge handed Light a 20-month jail term and told him: "From the age of 13 you took advantage of her and you sexually abused her.
"Your self-justification for what you did is deeply unattractive and you have little understanding of the impact your behaviour has had on her. I was unable to detect any genuine remorse on your part when you testified. You were not a young or immature man. You were in your 30s."
Reacting to the sentence, Sian told WalesOnline she is "upset, angry and hurting" to be living with "a life sentence" while her attacker will only serve 20 months, just half of that in prison.
She added: "Having enough courage to report my childhood sex abuser has taken me all my life. In February 2019, with all my courage and strength inside me, along with the hurt and desperation of losing myself in the dark, I made the call I had been trying to make for what seemed forever.
"Knowing only two per cent of historical abuse cases ever get a conviction, I guess I should be happy, but I can't help feeling cheated out of a real sentence that my abuser deserved."
Recorder Lewis placed Light on the sex offenders register for 10 years and said the defendant would be barred from working with children.
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