A woman has bravely spoken out about how her older brother sexually abused her for a decade after telling her he’d get cancer if she didn’t let him.

Sophie Carr, 23, was preyed on by Alexander Carr, 29, who is six years her senior from when she was six until she was 16.

Carr was jailed for five years in July 2020 after being convicted of a string of sexual offences against her.

Austism practitioner Sophie, from Swindon, now wants to encourage other victims of sexual abuse to report their attackers by waiving her anonymity to speak out.

Sophie was aged just six in 2003, Carr first abused her in a game of ‘mummies and daddies’.

‘Growing up, I thought Alex was the best older brother,’ she said.

‘One afternoon, we were playing in one of the bedrooms at my grandparents’ house when he climbed on top of me.

‘He started grinding himself against me and laughed while I struggled to break free.

‘Afterwards, I tried to forget about it. I was too young to understand what he was doing.’

Six months later, at their former family home in Yorkshire, Carr snuck into Sophie’s bedroom while her parents were sleeping.

‘He kissed me on the lips, then began caressing my legs and bottom,’ she said.

‘Minutes later, he pulled down his pants and began to rub his private parts on me. I was frozen in shock.

‘Once he was finished, he put his clothes back on. Afterwards, I was terrified and tried to convince myself it hadn’t happened.’

For the next five years, Carr continued to abuse Sophie.

She says: ‘He’d beg to play a kissing game and tickle me until I relaxed. He would hit me in the arms and legs if I tried to push him away.

‘I dreaded every day and what he would do to me.’

In 2008, when Sophie was 11 years old, the family moved to Swindon where Carr continued his campaign of abuse.

Sophie said: ‘As the years passed, he convinced me he’d get cancer if I didn’t let him abuse me.

‘When I hit my teens, I realised it was all a lie and there was no cancer.

‘I wanted to tell my mum and dad but my mum started to forget things and she became wobbly on her feet.

‘I didn’t want to be an extra burden.’

Sophie’s mum was diagnosed with Huntington’s Disease in 2012, an inherited condition which breaks down the nerve cells in the brain over time.

Her condition deteriorated until she wouldn’t walk, eat, or speak on her own, and Sophie and her dad became her full-time carers.

‘I was heartbroken. I felt like I couldn’t confide in anyone because dad had enough on his plate,’ Sophie added.

‘I began to avoid Alex as much as I could.

‘But he would send me dozens of messages every evening begging me to wear something sexy.

‘When I missed the school bus, he’d blackmail me into letting him abuse me before he drove me to school.

‘I was terrified he’d rape me one day. I was miserable.’

But years later in 2017, after confiding in a boyfriend, Sophie confessed to her dad about the abuse at the age of 20.

She said her dad kicked Carr out of the house immediately.

At the age of 21 in February 2018, Sophie reported her brother to the police and he was arrested and charged with sexual abuse.

She said: ‘My family struggled to accept the abuse, so I had to go through the process of making my statement on my own.

‘But it was the biggest weight off my shoulders. Eventually my family came to terms with the abuse and supported me completely.’

Carr was put on trial at Swindon Crown Court in March 2020 after denying the charges against him.

The jury was shown 80 pages of text messages dating back 10 years detailing the abuse.

Alexander Carr, now 29 and formerly of Dyson Road, Redhouse, Swindon, was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault on a child under 13 and two counts of sexual activity with a child family member at Swindon Crown Court. He was jailed for five years.

Sophie says: ‘I finally got my justice. Although I will never get over the pain, I can begin to move on and focus on my happiness.

‘Alex is my big brother and he should’ve protected me. Instead, he abused me in the worst way.

‘Growing up, I stayed silent, but now I have justice. I want to encourage other victims of sexual abuse to speak up.

‘I wish I could have gone to someone at the time. If you’re a victim of sexual abuse, please speak up, because you will be believed.’

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