A young woman recounts the horrors she went through at the hands predators who groomed, abused, and raped her.
Stephen Griffiths used family occasions as an excuse to target Emily Hodgson his second cousin. At one point, he plyed her with cocaine and forced himself on her.
Emily, 19, a Merseyside teenager, said that Griffiths started targeting her at the age of 14.
He was 35 years of age at the time. However, he was invited to many parties and gatherings as a relative from a close-knit household.
Three years later, Emily was able to confide in her mother about the abuse she suffered.
Griffiths was convicted on two counts of sexual assault, engaging with sexual communications with a minor and causing a minor to observe a person engaging sexual activity. He was sentenced to 33 months in prison in September 2021.
Stephen Griffiths, 35, used family occasions as a target for Emily Hodgson (14 years old), from Merseyside. He once plyed her with cocaine before forcing his way onto her. Pictured: Emily, 13 years old, with Griffiths at family gathering
Emily, a 19-year-old teaching assistant, said that she viewed Stephen as her best friend and was unable to accept that he had ‘brainwashed her’.
Emily, a teaching assistant from Merseyside says that she struggled for years to accept that the person I thought was my best friend and cousin was actually a paedophile. It was difficult to accept that I had been brainwashed.
The family celebrated a birthday and the grooming began. Colette, Emily’s cousin, is Griffiths’ mother and is also Emily’s godmother.
Emily says: “My mum was talking to Stephen about how I was struggling at school, and some of the children were being a bit mean. He assured me that he would take care of me and help.
Griffiths was convicted for two counts: engaging in sexual communication with a child, and causing the child to observe a person engaging into sexual activity. He was sentenced to 33 months in prison in September 2021.
“He had never taken notice of me before, so it was a great feeling. It felt like someone was on my side. I trusted him because he was an adult.
“After that Stephen began messaging me to find out how I was doing at school. This was the beginning of grooming. But nobody realized it at the time.
‘He was always the focal point of attention, full confidence, and he was the one I looked up to. His mother was my godmother and I was very close to him.
However, Stephen’s messages to Emily became offensive after a few months. He called Emily ‘gorgeous and’sexy. Fearing that she would get into trouble, she deleted the messages.
Emily said: “I had built up trust in him, and he was twenty years older than me, so I believed everything he said. I thought he was being kind. My confidence was low. I was only a child. I was not sure what was acceptable or unacceptable.
“He called me at 2am asking if he had sex with me and if I had a boyfriend. I felt uncomfortable. He told me that I needed a real guy and asked me to have some sex with him. He advised me to keep our conversations secret and said that I would get into trouble if I didn’t, even though he was the one wrong.
Emily with Ben Duffy, her college roommate. They met in college when Emily was 16. The couple were photographed together on Emily’s 17th Birthday when she broke down telling her mother about the abuse.
Emily, 13 years old, is pictured here leaving school. She turned to her cousin for help when she was having a difficult time at school. The teenager stated that she was “out of her depth” and didn’t fully understand the abuse at the time.
‘I was still only 14 and so I was very naïve. I felt outof my depth.
Griffiths sent Emily then an explicit image of his genitals.
She said that she was shocked and worried. But he apologized and said that he shouldn’t have sent it. Then he asked if he liked the photograph. I didn’t know what to do.
The first assault occurred in a taxi after a family get-together.
Emily says that her parents were in the taxi. However, he was secretly sliding his hand up and downwards my leg. As he said goodbye, he grabbed my bum while he got out the taxi.
Emily, pictured at the family party with Griffiths. She recalled how Griffiths had plied Emily with cocaine before sexually assaulting him.
In March 2017, Emily turned 15 and attended a family party celebrating the Grand National. Stephen forced his way into her bathroom and offered her cocaine.
She said that she was trying to say no. But he put it under me and said: “Do you want some of it, it will be horny. I didn’t know what it was and had never used a drug in my entire life.
“I felt sick with panic. I snorted as he said, and then he started to kiss me and lift up my dress. I just froze when he touched me in an inappropriate way.
Griffiths was sentenced in September to 33 months imprisonment, given a restraining ordeal and required to sign the Sex Offenders Register
“Then he heard a stranger coming upstairs to the toilet, and that scared him. I was physically sick afterward and in floods with tears, but I couldn’t tell anyone. I was afraid that no one would believe me.
“I felt completely alone, like there was no place to turn. Stephen was a great friend of my parents. They kept telling me that he was funny and entertaining. I was confused about this.
Emily went on to college to study photography and criminology, and she met Ben Duffy at 16.
She says that she confided her feelings in Ben and that he made me realize the severity of the abuse. I told Ben about Stephen’s statement that I would be the one in trouble and not him. As I spoke the words, I realized how absurd that was.
It all fit together. I realized that I had been brainwashed and abused in my childhood by a paedophile.
Ben persuaded Emily that she tell her parents. Her parents were totally supportive and she went straight to the police.
She said: “It was the night prior to my 17th birthday, when Mum made a comment on something Stephen had said that was very humorous. I snapped and told them he was evil and terrible and not funny.
“My mum was blindsided. I didn’t know the reason for my outburst. I told her everything the next day, on my birthday.
Emily is pictured with Ben Duffy, her boyfriend. Emily said that the court case had caused a split in her family. Some relatives sided with Griffiths, while others refused to believe her.
“I had to accept that the person I believed was my best friend, whom I trusted, was actually the opposite. He was a paedophile. It really hurt me.
Griffiths denied the allegations. But jurors at Liverpool’s Hilton Nightingale Court found him guilty in April of two counts each of sexual assault, engaging with sexual communications with a minor, and causing another person to engage in sexual activities.
Griffiths was sentenced in September to 33 months imprisonment, a restraining ordeal, and required to sign the Sex Offenders Register.
Emily says, “Looking back at everything makes me sick and for a long period it made me feel stupid. being so naive.
“The court case has divided the family down the middle; our godmother turned against it. My own family has been so supportive that I don’t regret going the police. I would encourage other young men and women to speak out.
“It’s only when someone confides in you, and you speak it out loud, that it becomes apparent how wrong it is. It took me a lifetime of to get over the mental and physical abuse I suffered.
“But I won’t allow Stephen to ruin any more of mine. I am a survivor and I share my story to help young people. I want to make an impact.