My grandad raped me at 11 then sold me to more than 200 paedophiles – and even had a sick shopping list where full sex cost £50
Emma-Louise was just a child when her grandad drove her to a remote countryside area and sold her for sex
EMMA-LOUISE was just 11 when her grandad Karl Barker raped her.
He went on to sexually assault her for more than seven years, even driving her to local dogging sites and selling her to paedophiles. He would watch the horrific attacks and sometimes join in.
Eventually, Barker was arrested and jailed but the other men remain at large.
Now, Emma-Louise, 24, from Lincolnshire, bravely tells her story for the first time to Fabulous Online...
WHEN I was 11 my grandad died. He had a heart attack and passed away on the bed. But my dad, his son-in-law, brought him back to life.
I wish he hadn’t – because what he did over the next seven-and-a-half years is sickening.
Of course, at the time, I didn’t realise what was to come. I only knew grandad as a kindly old man who would give me sweets and looks after me.
I was terrified he would collapse and die again, so I begged my mum Sheena and dad Michael to let me stay at his overnight at his so I could keep an eye on him.
They said yes; he only lived a 10-second walk from our house at the time so it wasn’t an ordeal.
From Monday to Friday I would stay at his home in Lincoln and the other nights I’d be back at my mum and dad’s.
I loved it – we’d watch television together and chat. ‘You’re my favourite grandchild,’ he’d say, sneaking me cigarettes.
He’d give me vodka too, even though I was only 11. I knew not to tell my parents – they would not have approved.
He pushed his tongue down my throat and kissed me
Emma-Louise
Not long after I started staying over we had a Chinese takeaway. Grandad was drunk and suddenly, while putting the takeaway boxes to one side, launched himself at me. He pushed his tongue down my throat and kissed me.
I was so shocked and embarrassed as I hadn’t ever kissed anyone before. But I figured it was a drunken mistake and nothing more.
But the next day, in the bed that we shared – which grandad said was our secret – he started touching me over my pyjamas. I was really afraid. He was my grandfather and it did not feel right.
I asked him what was going on and he replied: ‘This is what happens with grandads Emma… trust me.’
The next night he put on a porn film while groping me. I hated it but he told me again: ‘It’s what grandads do.’
I wanted to tell my parents but he warned me not too. ‘Your dad would kill me,’ he said. ‘You don’t want me to die do you?’
I was only 11. I believed him. I believed he would die if I told anyone what he was doing.
What happened next was sickening. He forced me to perform oral sex on him and then raped me.
He pinned me down and I stared at the ceiling, just looking blindly at the lampshade, not believing what was actually happening to me. I thought I would die. I was in agonising pain
I would be expected to have sex with many, many men. A lot of them were around his age – probably grandads themselves – and often they wore wedding rings
Emma-Louise
Again he told me not to tell. ‘You’ll be separated from your parents if you tell,’ he said. So, I continued to go back there and I would be raped every time. I thought it couldn’t get worse. I was wrong.
It was three weeks later when he said to me, ‘I’m going to take you to your first man – I’d love to watch you s*** another man.’
I didn’t know what he meant and told him so. When he explained I felt sick and started panicking. I couldn’t breathe.
He didn’t care and a few days later, while still dressed in my school uniform, he drove me to a bypass on the outskirts of Lincoln.
He pulled into a layby and got me out of the car. Introducing me to a man, who I think was in his 50s, he ordered me to strip, then they both raped me.
The only way I managed to get through the whole, horrible ordeal was by shutting off completely.
Afterwards he took me to Tesco and bought me cigarettes as ‘payment’. I hated everything about it.
The stranger who had raped me had caused me psychological damage, no doubt, but also physical damage. I was in agony and told mum. She took me to the doctors and I desperately wanted them to realise what was going on.
However, they didn’t – instead I was diagnosed with a urine infection and given antibiotics.
It didn’t stop Grandad. He, instead, developed a system of payment for the men who would rape me: £10 for hands only, £20 for oral sex and £50 for full sex.
He would take me out of school in the day, claiming he was my legal guardian, and would drive me to dogging sites in the Lincolnshire countryside.
There I would be expected to have sex with many, many men. A lot of them were around his age – probably grandads themselves – and often they wore wedding rings.
They knew I was only a child. I believe I had sex with around 200 men against my will over the next seven-and-a-half years.
Of course my mental health suffered terribly. I self-harmed and developed an eating disorder. My schoolwork slipped. I tried to take my own life multiple times.
Truthfully, I just wanted to be in hospital and away from where grandad could prostitute me.
At 16 I met a boy. It was really innocent and he was lovely – but it made me realise something. My relationship with grandad was sick and wrong.
However, it is really hard to extradite yourself from something like that and it took until I was 18 to confess all to my parents.
I believe I had sex with around 200 men against my will over the next seven-and-a-half years
Emma-Louise
Grandad had given me sleeping tablets when dad called and it had made my voice slur. Dad asked if I was okay. ‘It’s grandad,’ I said. ‘But I don’t have evidence.’
Dad told me I didn’t need it – and so I admitted everything, begging him not to tell my mum.
However, he did and both mum and dad told me they believed me.
So, I set a trap for grandad, writing him a text message. ‘It’s been a while since we had sex and you haven’t taken me to other men to have sex for money,’ I said in the message.
He replied: ‘Don’t worry, I’ll sort something out this week.’
Lincolnshire Police were called and my grandfather, Karl Barker, then 69, of Lincoln, was arrested.
During this period I had the support of my family and friends, plus the staff at Spring Lodge – a rape centre in Lincoln.
Two years on in April 2015 his court case took place at Lincoln Crown Court. At the last minute he pleaded guilty to rape of a child under 13, arranging the prostitution of a child aged 13 to 17, two counts of inciting a child to become a prostitute and other sex offences.
He was jailed for 22 years and ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register.
In November of that year he tried and failed to get his sentence cut on appeal.
“You groomed her and sordidly abused her and allowed other men, for money, to sordidly abuse her,” said Judge Michael Heath, sitting in Lincoln.
The judge was really hard about him at the Court of Appeal too.
“She essentially became a child prostitute, with him acting as her pimp,” Lord Justice McCombe said. “He often joined in. These were offences of loathsome depravity…. unbelievable awfulness.”
Most read in Real Life
It’s true – what grandad did to me was awful. But now, three years on from the case, I am coming to terms with it. I’m trained as a counsellor because I want to help others who have suffered trauma.
I can never forgive my grandfather. His behaviour was awful. But what really rips me apart is there are currently men – fathers, probably grandfathers – walking the streets who raped me. I don’t know how they can get away with it.
Detective Superintendent Richard Hatton told Fabulous Online:
The victim of Karl Barker is an incredibly brave young woman. Her work with us in this investigation led to a lengthy sentence being passed to a very dangerous man. Her strength of character means Barker is no longer at liberty to cause harm to her or anyone else.
Emma-Louise waived her anonymity for this article.
- Emma-Louise has told her story in the book Grandad’s Girl, which is available to buy for £6.99 through Penguin -
Love real life stories? We're always on the lookout for case studies to feature on Fabulous Online. and you could make money by telling your story.