My evil stepdad molested me aged 5 before raping me for 9 years – but I became a lawyer & put him behind bars

FOR most five-year-olds, bath time is something to look forward to, but for Tina Renton, it was met with confusion and fear.

Every night, the little girl feared the moment that her stepdad, David Moore, approached her with a towel.

David Moore was sentenced to 14 years in prison at Southend Crown Court[/caption]

This is because sick Moore preyed on Tina, using bath time as an excuse to molest the innocent little girl while her mum watched TV downstairs.

Tina recalls: “As a child, I still needed help to dry myself properly, so David towelled me down.

“But as he wiped the towel over my tiny body, he rubbed his hands over my privates.

“It happened after every bath time.”

Moore’s twisted routine became more depraved until he was regularly raping his step-daughter, with the abuse spanning nine years.

It wasn’t until 20 years later, when Tina began retraining as a lawyer, that she found the strength and courage to help ensure her rapist stepdad would be locked up.

In 2011, David Moore, then 59, was found guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of gross indecency with a child and seven counts of indecent assault.

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison at Southend Crown Court but was released on parole after serving just nine years.

Tina says: “He still hasn’t admitted his guilt, so I’m angry that he wasn’t made to serve his whole sentence.

“I’ve been in hospital countless times due to stress, and I’m in therapy for PTSD.”

‘I wondered if it was what all dads did to their daughters’

Tina, now 50, from Rainham, East London, says that Moore had offered to bathe her and her older brother from the moment he moved into their home.

While she admits she was ‘confused’ by his behaviour, she says that after marrying their mum shortly after moving in, she considered Moore a member of the family.

She says: “I thought of him as my dad, especially as I didn’t have contact with my biological father.”

A year later, when Tina was six years old, Moore’s behaviour escalated.

She added: “I was trying to fall asleep when I heard David come into my room.

“His familiar scent of Old Spice aftershave and cigar smoke wafted over me.

“Then I felt my bed dip as he sat next to me. 

“I was scared as I screwed my eyes shut and pretended I was still asleep.

“He told me I was beautiful, and  I could feel his hands pulling my nightie up to my tummy.

“I had no idea what he was about to do, but I felt him push my knickers aside.

“I thought that if he knew I was awake, he might stop, but he just asked if I liked it.

“My instinct told me it was wrong, and minutes later, he got up and left.

She now uses her own experience to help other survivors of sexual assault[/caption]

“I wondered if it was what all dads did to their daughters.”

Moore worked late hours as a taxi driver, but twice a week, when he was home, he would sneak into Tina’s room to abuse her.

When Tina was nine, her mum and Moore welcomed a baby together, leaving Tina with mixed feelings.

She remembers: “I was happy to have a little brother, but I knew it cemented David as part of our lives.

“By that time, I’d mastered the art of pretending to be asleep as David touched me.”

One night just before Tina’s 10th birthday, his usual routine took a twisted turn.

She recalls: “After molesting me, he did something I didn’t expect. I heard the rustling of a wrapper being torn open.

“He treated me like a dainty china doll, and I kept my eyes shut as he raped me, and I willed for him to hurry up and leave.

“After what felt like an eternity, he told me he loved me and left.”

Moore carried on his sick new routine, with Tina claiming he would occasionally leave money on her bedside table.

It felt dirty and even though David never told me to keep my mouth shut, I was too afraid to tell Mum

Tina Renton

“It felt dirty and even though David never told me to keep my mouth shut, I was too afraid to tell Mum,” she says.

“But when I was 14, I was skiving off classes with my best friend, and she began boasting about a fun family trip she was going on.

“I opened up about what David had been doing, at first she laughed like I was telling a joke, but when I confessed about the rape she encouraged me to get help.

“I felt like a weight had been lifted; it had been nine years of abuse, and this was the first time I’d told a soul.”

Desperate to put a stop to the abuse, Tina asked her mum to put a lock on her bedroom door when she got home.

Tina says: “But she was useless at DIY, so when the lock appeared a few days later, there was only one person who could’ve installed it.

“David – the person who it was designed to keep out.

“Although he stopped abusing me from then on, he still lurked around after I’d had a bath, leering.”

As Tina got older, the abuse began taking its toll, and she spent her time drinking heavily and experimenting with drugs.

“Anything to block out the memories of what he’d done to me,” she adds.

Tina left school with D and E grades, and at 16, got her first job as a hairdresser. A year later, she could finally afford to move out.

At 19, she began seeing someone and gave birth to their first son soon after, quickly followed by their second.

She says: “Although our relationship didn’t last, I relished being a mum. I loved my boys to bits.

“I vowed to never let anyone hurt them, and I certainly wasn’t going to let David see them.”

‘He needed to pay for what he did’

When her sons were grown up, at age 34, Tina decided to pursue a better life for herself and started a law degree.

She says: “My aim was to help other victims of abuse.

“But one day I was studying one of the books we’d been given, when I came across a section that shocked me.

“It talked about the statute of limitations – the time limit to bringing a criminal to justice. 

“Seeing as 20 years had passed since David stopped abusing me, I thought it was too late to report him.

“But this told me otherwise, and three months later, I decided I’d suffered enough and that David needed to pay for what he did.”

She called the police, who asked her to come into the station to give a statement.

An agonising 18 months later, there was finally enough evidence to charge Moore, who pleaded not guilty, meaning Tina had to go to court.

Tina, who qualified as a lawyer in 2009, says: “I’d requested a screen so I wouldn’t have to look at him.

“Ten days later, I received a call from the police involved in my case, who told me a jury had found him guilty.

“I let out tears of relief.”

David Moore, 59, was found guilty of three counts of rape, three counts of gross indecency with a child and seven counts of indecent assault.

I have to make sure people like David Moore don’t ruin more lives

Tina Renton

He was sentenced to 14 years in prison at Southend Crown Court.

Tina says: “I was told he showed no emotion or remorse in court; he was a monster.

“Knowing he was behind bars gave me more confidence to move on with my life.

“I got my law degree and wrote a book about my experiences, You Can’t Hide, and became a victim support worker to help other women like me.”

Six years later, Moore applied for parole.

She says: “Using my training, I fought for three years to keep him behind bars.

“But after the third hearing, he was granted automatic release; he was let out after serving just nine years.”

Tina has now made it her life’s mission to support other victims of child abuse and sexual assault.

“For 11 years, I was an ambassador for a charity for child victims of crime,” she says.

“Now I run a Facebook group called Fighting to Empower Victims of Sexual Crimes.

“It’s my life mission to do everything in my power to help other victims put their abusers behind bars.

“I have to make sure people like David Moore don’t ruin more lives.”