My twisted stepfather was just 7 years older than me when he moved in and tortured me and my sister one by one

A WOMAN has revealed how her wicked step-dad made her and her sister’s lives hell, but the abuse has made them closer than ever. Helen Neaven, 45, and her younger sister, Angela McBride, 43, both from Peterborough, faced unimaginable horrors in their family home whilst growing up. Sisters Helen and Angela were sexually abused by stepdad Glen Johnson Credit: True Life Stories Aged 8 and 10, they hoped their new stepdad would be kind Their mum’s husband, Glen Johnson, 52, from Peterborough, not only sexually abused Helen and Angela one-by-one, but he also subjected them to child torture too. Sadly, the abuse was swept under the rug, and the sisters spent decades without justice. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! Despite having families of their own in later life, Helen and Angela suffered from debilitating PTSD. Approaching their 40s, they courageously came forward to the police and now they have achieved justice. Johnson tortured and sexually abused Helen and Angela Credit: True Life Stories Helen was just 7 years younger than Johnson when he moved in Credit: True Life Stories They’re both waiving their anonymity in a bid to raise awareness for historic abuse survivors. Helen, a business support officer, says: “After 30 years, my sister and I finally have closure. “I want other mums reading our story to know, it’s never too late to get justice. “If we can inspire just one person to come forward, that’s our job done.” Most read in Fabulous In 1990, Helen was 10 years old and shared a bedroom with Angela, then aged 8. They lived with their mother, and their biological father hadn’t been in their lives. Helen says: “One day we saw Mum hugging a young man downstairs. The next thing, he was moving in. “Mum was 29 and Glen was 18. She was 10 years older. “Although I found it odd, I hoped our new step-dad would be kind. But as soon as he settled in, Mum told us that Glen was in charge and we had to listen to our new father.” Right away, Johnson, who worked in logistics, was very strict in the family household. Often he yelled at the girls for making a mess, and told them to tidy up. Helen says: “Glen didn’t bond with us. He would just scream at us to pick up our toys and belongings. Glen Johnson moved in with the family when he was 18 and was quickly in charge Credit: True Life Stories Helen’s sister Angela was also abused by Johnson Credit: True Life Stories “He would follow us around, bullying us and giving us bedroom inspections. If the bedroom wasn’t spotless, he’d flip our beds upside down and trash the room. “Angela and I were always terrified and we’d cower away in a corner. “After school, we’d come home exhausted. But Glen made me do the washing and make dinner. “Whilst Angela hoovered and cleaned. He gave constant demands where I had to make cups of tea. “I didn’t know if it was normal or not, I felt miserable.” Helen claims Johnson took full authority over the house, and she and her sister were petrified of him. Helen says: “We lived in fear. Then one afternoon, he confronted us about a doughnut that had been bitten into. “He screamed at us, demanding to know who’d taken the bite. We both shook our heads, telling him it wasn’t us. “He lined us up and forced us both to take a bite of an uneaten doughnut. Then he matched the teeth marks with the other doughnut. “Turned out it was my sister’s. He then forced us to stand against the wall, and bend our knees to get into a squat position. “He forced our arms out and he made us freeze in that position. My thighs were burning, and shaking violently. “So was Angela’s. As an hour passed, we were both in a flood of tears, trying to stay up. “Glen watched us in excruciation, yelling at us if we fell over, and made us go back into the position. “Then, he got a Yellow Pages book and a BT phone book and put it onto our arms. “It was agony, and I was on the verge of passing out. We were hysterical. “After that day, Angela and I named it the ‘horrible position.’” It wasn’t until they were adults that the sisters reconnected Credit: True Life Stories Once their shared abuse came to light, Helen and Angela grew closer Credit: True Life Stories From then on, every day, Johnson would threaten to torture the girls with the agonising position if they didn’t listen to him. Just when they thought things couldn’t get any worse, Glen called Helen into his and her mum’s bedroom that year. Helen says: “He told me he needed to check I was growing up. Suddenly, he put his hand down my top, and cupped my breast. “He placed my hand on his crotch area, teaching me what a hard on was. “He fondled me all over. His clammy cold hand gave me a prickly sensation. “I was scared, and confused. It felt wrong. “After he told me not to tell, or I’d get him into trouble. I didn’t tell Angela or anyone what had happened. “Over the years, Glen became more cruel to us. I grew old enough to realise I was being abused.” The family eventually moved to a big three-story home, yet Helen and Angela were forced to stay upstairs in their room each evening by Glen. They were also pitted against each-other by him, and became very distant. Years later, in 1995, Helen was 15 and moved in with her boyfriend at the time. Helen says: “Angela was 14 and still living with Mum and Glen. They were out and I was left alone with Angela when she blurted out that Glen had sexually abused her. “My heart sank as I realised it had happened to my baby sister too. “I told her I knew she was telling the truth because he did the same to me. “Glen heard the commotion when he got home, and went off the rails. “Angela and I were forced to sit on his knee and apologise. It was sickening. How to report a sexual assault Contact a doctor or practice nurse at your GP surgery. Contact a voluntary organisation, such as Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, Victim Support, The Survivors Trust or Male Survivors Partnership. Call the 24-hour freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge, on 0808 2000 247. Speak to the rape and sexual abuse support line run by Rape Crisis England and Wales – you can call the helpline on 0808 500 2222 or use the online chat (both are free and are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year). “The abuse was soon swept under the rug and Angela and I never spoke of it again.” Both traumatised, the sisters vowed to forget everything. Over the years as they grew older, their relationship was still torn and they kept a distance. It wasn’t until they both were adults, when they found themselves reconnecting. Helen went on to get married and have two children. Whilst Angela got married and had five children of her own too. Helen says: “All while Mum was still with Glen. I stayed out of Glen’s way and refused to let my kids near him. “As a busy mum, juggling kids and work, my mental health deteriorated. I suffered with depression, anxiety and PTSD from what Glen had done. “Sometimes whilst shopping I’d even ask permission from my husband to put something in the trolley. “The scars that Glen had made on me had stuck, even later in life. “Years went by, and one afternoon, Angela was over. She admitted suddenly that Glen had touched her when she was 9. “It was like a knife to my chest. I said he touched me too. Both in our mid-30s, for the first time in our lives, we spoke a little of the abuse. “We hugged tight. All those years I spent feeling so alone, and isolated, were for nothing. “Because Angela was the only person who knew the exact pain I’d been in.” After that, Helen and Angela grew close, becoming a comfort to each-other. They even moved a few doors down from each-other on the same street in Peterborough. It wasn’t until 2020, when Helen was 40, and Angela was 38, when they both bravely decided to come forward to the police. Helen says: “We’d had enough. When we spoke to the police, they arrested Glen at his home. “A lovely officer fought hard to prove how the ‘horrible position’ was child torture, and backed us every step of the way. “After my entire life thinking I wouldn’t be believed, the police listened and cared.” In December 2023, Glen Johnson, now 50, of Waltham Close, Peterborough, pleaded guilty to one count of child cruelty and one count of indecent assault against a child against Helen at Cambridge Crown Court. He also pleaded guilty to one count of child cruelty and two counts of indecent assault against a child against Angela. He was sentenced to four years and two months. Helen says: “In court, Glen looked like an old, vulnerable man. The authoritative ruler I’d known as a young girl was no longer there. “He was very unkempt and frail. He even told a lawyer that he was sorry for ruining our lives. “Although he’d shown remorse, nothing would take away the lifetime of pain he’d inflicted upon me and Angela. “Now Glen’s in prison, it’s his turn to suffer. While Angela and I can finally begin to heal. “One positive to come out of this is how close it has brought us. We are sisters who have bonded through our trauma, and we’ll be best friends for life. “To anyone else out there who’s suffering through this silence, please reach out to someone. You are not alone.”