BRIDGWATER rapist Jet Sheridon was brought to justice after his two victims summoned up the courage to go to the police over 20 years after the offences took place.

The 53-year-old sexually abused his step-daughter Karen Durant when she was a child and his half sister Julie Roberts when she was 16. The offences took place between 1977 and 1986.

Karen first approached police in 2009 and later Julie came forward.

Now Sheridon has been jailed for 20 years – he is expected to serve half that sentence before being released on licence - after a jury at Taunton Crown Court found him guilty of seven counts of rape and three indecent assaults. He was also convicted of one count of wilfully ill-treating Karen when she was under 16.

The pair bravely gave up their right to anonymity to tell the Mercury about the abuse that tore their lives apart.

Karen, a married mother-of-four, said: “I felt I had skeletons in my closet and wanted to get it off my chest for once, and it did feel better. He’s a sick man for what he did and he deserves what he got.

“He should have got life – he’s taken ours away from us. Abuse is not something you can ever forget. But I feel there’s a bit of closure and some justice has been done.”

Karen said her decision to speak out against the abuse had not been welcomed by everybody, and that offensive words had been sprayed on her home following the sentencing. She said she just wanted to get on with her life now.

Julie added: “It took me all my courage to call the police. Karen and I helped each other to a degree but struggled to talk about it because emotionally it was difficult. I just didn’t want to see him hurt another child.”

The women have lost six stone in weight between them due to the stress of the trial. Julie has had ten years of counselling and said she tried to take her own life on several occasions – because she wanted to forget.

Back in 2007 Julie wrote a letter to Sheridon telling him how she felt about the abuse. She said she had “lived a lie” for many years and finally wanted to open up about what had happened.

At last week’s sentencing, Sheridon was also given an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order and placed on the Sexual Offenders’ Register for life. He denied all the charges and was cleared of one other count of indecent assault.

His two victims thanked DC Kevin Pellow for pursuing their case. Julie said: “He was an absolute star. He made an appeal and got the case heard at court. I would like to thank him for everything he did and for the support he gave us.”