Woman raped aged 8 by stepdad shares his pathetic excuse when she confronted him
A young woman who was raped by her stepfather at the age of eight has bravely spoken out to encourage others to report child sexual abuse - and revealed the pathetic excuse he gave when she confronted him as an adult.
Michelle Sallis was subjected to horrific sexual abuse by her depraved stepfather, David Sallis. When she took him to task, years later, he admitted: "I just wanted to know what it felt like to have sex with someone else." Sallis is now beginning a 14-year jail term after admitting his crimes at Preston Crown Court. Michelle, 27, from Wigan, Greater Manchester, says: “My stepfather raped me in my own bed, in my bedroom, as a little girl.
Michelle Sallis and her new partner, James (Focus Features)
Michelle has bravely spoken out to encourage others to report child sexual abuse. (Focus Features)"It was the one place I should have felt safe. “From the moment I met him, I was wary of him and anxious around him. Perhaps I had a sense, even as a little girl, that he was a monster. It was only aged 16, when I learned about consent at school, that I realised it was so wrong. It took me years to pluck up courage to confront him and he just admitted it, as though it was no big deal.
"I haven’t had support from my family, and it’s been a hard journey. But I feel as though the burden has been lifted. I would encourage all other victims of abuse to speak out and to get help. Staying silent is what enables perpetrators. I feel now I have a voice.”
Michelle, pictured as a child, was abused by her stepfather at the age of eight (Focus Features)David Sallis came into Michelle’s life when she was six years old. Her mother met him on holiday in Peterborough and he quickly moved into their family home in Bury, Greater Manchester. When Michelle was 7, she was bridesmaid at their wedding.
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David Sallis is now beginning a 14-year jail term after admitting his crimes at Preston Crown Court (Focus Features)Michelle, an auxiliary nurse, says: “I was a very shy, anxious child. My own dad wasn’t around, and I had no relationship with him. I was wary of strangers, and of men in particular. I didn’t even feel comfortable in the same room as him.
“Perhaps instinctively I sensed the evil in him. He assumed the role of my dad and was very strict, sending me to bed earlier than usual, not allowing me to have a night-light. He did the school run too. He worked as a cleaner in a pub and would take me to work with him on Saturdays, saying my mum ‘needed a break.’
Michelle said it was only aged 16 when she learned about consent at school, that she realised it was so wrong (Focus Features)“In the evenings, he’d leave my mum watching TV downstairs, and come up to watch a film with me in my room. The sexual assaults began when I was eight. It started with touching, and it progressed until he raped me aged eight. I had no idea what it was, but I knew I hated it. Because I wasn’t used to having a dad, I presumed maybe this was what all dads did.”
Sallis continued his twisted reign of terror, attacking Michelle as often as three times a week. She says: “It happened a lot in my bedroom. He’d pitch a tent in the garden and abuse me there, or he’d get in the paddling pool with me. He took me camping, and he raped me in a field. He even abused me in mum’s bed when she was flat out with sleeping tablets. He made me promise not to tell, and I grew up fearing that social services might take me away if I ever confided in anyone. Over the years, I became very withdrawn, confused and sad.”
In his twisted reign of terror, Sallis attacked Michelle as often as three times a week (Focus Features)Aged 12, Michelle began staying with a schoolfriend, and the abuse gradually petered out. She says: “It could be that the abuse stopped because I’d hit puberty. But I think probably he just didn’t get the opportunity anymore. I spent so little time at home and in my teens, I moved in with a pal from school.”
Aged 16, during a lesson about consent, Michelle finally realised she had been raped. She says: “I had always thought of rape as a violent act – an attack by stranger down a dark alleyway. I didn’t associate this with what had happened to me. Yet I also slowly realised that it was the worst betrayal of all to be raped by my step-dad, in my own room, in my own bed.
Michelle, an auxiliary nurse, says: “I was a very shy, anxious child. My own dad wasn’t around, and I had no relationship with him." (Focus Features)“It was a lot to deal with. I tried all sorts of new starts, moving house, getting a new job, meeting a new partner, but nothing helped. I drank a lot, to blot out the memory. I felt like I was constantly running, constantly fleeing the memory of the abuse.”
Feeling she could take no more, she confronted David Sallis in front of her mother and other family members. Michelle was stunned when he admitted it immediately, saying: ‘I just wanted to see what it was like to have sex with someone else.’
Michelle said she doesn't want her story to define her and wants to look forward and enjoy her life (Focus Features)Sallis, now 47, was jailed for 14 years and three months at Preston Crown Court in August, for five counts of rape, and assault by penetration. Michelle, who has a partner, James, says: “I felt the sentencing was probably about right, given the guidelines but he can never be adequately punished for what he did.
“Apart from the officer in my case, who was brilliant, I had no support. Victim Support kept forgetting to update me, I was always lost on their system. It just added to the stress. I don’t want my story to define me, I want to look forwards and enjoy my life. But I want to try and help others by speaking out. The shame belongs to the abusers, and not to the survivors.”
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