A man who made his 14-year-old stepdaughter pregnant has been jailed for 16 years.
Daniel Delves, 90, began grooming the girl when she was aged 13 in the 1970s and he was in a relationship with her mum, Snaresbrook crown court heard on September 1.
The former carpenter r@ped her multiple times in her bedroom and in his car after telling her he was preparing her for what “boys would do to her”, and convinced her to not tell her mum about the abuse.
When the girl fell pregnant, Delves, of Purfleet-on-Thames, Essex, persuaded her to inform her mother that a boy from her school was the unborn child’s father.
After the child was born, the girl’s mother raised her as her own, the court heard.
The man continued r@ping her after the child was born, including forcing her to get in his car after pulling up alongside her when she was on her way to school, before abusing her in the vehicle.
The girl told her aunt about the abuse and she supported her when she reported it to the police in the 1970s.
An investigation was dropped after the girl’s mother persuaded her to say that the allegations were not true, prosecuting Richard Sedgwick said.
Delves only stopped r@ping the girl shortly before she turned 16 when her mum accused her of being in a relationship with him and hit her, the court heard.
In a statement read to the court the stepdaughter – now an adult – said she has been left traumatised by the abuse and it has led to her needing antidepressants, counselling and having suicidal thoughts.
She added: “Being r@ped isn’t just something that happens to you. It is something that never goes away.
“The whole thing has been a nightmare. I thought I would rather be de@d than deal with this.
“I felt like I could have done so much more with my life if this didn’t happen to me.”
The woman reported the abuse to police again in 2023 which led to Delves being prosecuted.
Defending, Yogain Chandarana, said Delves, who initially denied the charges before pleading guilty during his trial, is “very sorry for the wrong that he did in his younger days” and has “regretted” what he did for “his whole life”.
The court heard Delves has two other adult children from a different relationship which started after the relationship with the mother of the girl he abused ended.
Delves was convicted of 11 counts of r@ping a child under 16. He was also ordered to pay his victim £135,000 compensation.
Sentencing Delves, James Willan KQ, said he “came to occupy a position of trust” over his victim and played the role of her dad, adding: “However, in reality, you were grooming her: showing her affection like a father would, but betraying that trust by abusing her and persuading her that what you were doing was normal and that she had to keep it secret.”