Woman Says Her Husband Confessed to Drugging, Raping and Taking Photos of Her for Years While She Slept: Report
A woman in England is speaking out, claiming her husband previously confessed to drugging and sexually assaulting her for years, according to a report
The woman, who went by the pseudonym "Kate," told her story on the BBC's File on 4 Investigates journalism documentary series
"I have been raping you. I've been sedating you and taking photographs of you for years," the victim claimed her now-former partner told her, adding that he spiked her tea with sleeping medication before bedA woman in England is speaking out after her husband confessed to drugging her and raping her for years, according to a report.
A victim who was identified by the BBC under the pseudonym "Kate," recalled how her former partner would spike her tea at night with sleeping medication, before sexually abusing her as she slept.
Kate told her story on the BBC's File on 4 Investigates journalism documentary series. The case is similar to that of French woman Gisèle Pelicot, whose ex-husband Dominique Pelicot was found guilty in December in a mass rape trial that horrified the world.
"I have been raping you. I've been sedating you and taking photographs of you for years," Kate said her now-ex-husband had previously told her, per the BBC.
"He just told me as if it was, you know: 'We're going to have spaghetti bolognese tomorrow for dinner, is it all right if you pick up the bread?' " she added, according to the outlet.
It took Kate almost a year to even tell her sister about the abuse, following a particularly harrowing panic attack. She said she'd become very ill after her husband's confession, and her weight had plummeted, per the BBC.
Kate's mom ended up contacting Devon and Cornwall Police, and the husband was arrested and questioned, but Kate eventually decided, four days later, to drop the charges, partly for their children's sake, the outlet stated.
The victim went back to the police six months later, and local detective constable, Mike Smith, led an investigation into what exactly occurred.
"He helped give me my power back. I didn't consciously [realize] that I'd had it taken away. He explained that it was rape," Kate — who has since been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as well as a neurological disorder — said of the officer helping her, per the BBC.
While telling her story, Kate explained that there were occasions where she'd woken up to find her husband having sex with her without her consent over the years, stating that the suspect had also been "controlling and abusive" behind closed doors and "misused prescription pills," the BBC reported.
At the time, when she'd awoken to find her husband sexually abusing her, he'd said he must have been asleep and didn't know what he was doing.
After coming clean to Kate, her husband allegedly paid to see a psychiatrist, who noted down that the client had admitted to "drugging his wife in order to have sex with her while she was asleep," the outlet stated.
Despite the evidence, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to press charges after police presented files on the case to the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales, the BBC noted. Six months later, the CPS then stated Kate's ex-husband would be charged after she applied for a formal review.
'We [recognize] the profound impact a decision not to prosecute can have, which is why our Victim's Right to Review Scheme exists – so that victims can appeal in instances where they believe we have not made the right decision," a CPS spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement regarding the case, which went to court in 2022.
'We are committed to delivering justice in complex cases such as this one, and while we get the vast majority of our charging decisions right the first time, this was not the case here and we [apologize] to the victim for the distress this will have caused," the statement continued.
'Following a review of our initial decision, we sought more evidence from police to ultimately charge and successfully prosecute [the suspect] for his abuse – which saw him jailed and handed a lifelong restraining order," the CPS statement obtained by PEOPLE concluded.
Kate's husband was sentenced to 11 years in prison, PEOPLE can confirm, as well as being handed a lifelong restraining order. He was found guilty of rape, sexual assault by penetration and administering a substance with intent.
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The case went to trial five years after Kate's husband confessed to his then-wife about the abuse. At the time, the suspect previously alleged Kate "had a sexual fantasy of being tied up in her sleep and woken up in that position to have consensual sex," per the BBC. He said he drugged her so that she wouldn't wake up when he was tying her up, claiming it wasn't so he could rape her.
Officer Smith, who previously investigated the case, said, "I saw it as being absolutely preposterous. This is the most traumatic thing in her life and they were very much painting her as a fully engaged party for some sort of sexual kink," the outlet reported.
"I want other people to understand that abuse happens a lot more quietly than you think," Kate said, per the BBC. "I'm still learning properly what happened to me and how that's affected me."
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to .
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