British man, 60, admits raping his stepdaughters, infecting them with HIV

A man has admitted raping his two stepdaughters, who both contracted HIV from him.

The two girls are believed to have been aged 11 and 14 when they were infected with the potentially deadly virus, while they were sexual abused by their stepfather.

On the second day of his trial at the Canterbury Crown Court this week, the man pleaded guilty to a range of crimes, including rape of a child under 13.

The judge told him to expect an indeterminate sentence.

The 60-year-old originally denied the charges, but changed his plea after developing Aids.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) chose not to prosecute him for deliberately infecting the girls with HIV, as it falls under the crime of grievous bodily harm (GBH) which carries a shorter sentence.

One of the girls, now aged 22, told the Sunday Mirror she had found out about her condition when she was expecting her boyfriend's baby.

A routine antenatal blood test revealed that the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was infected by the virus.

"When the midwife said I was HIV positive my world fell apart," she said. "The abuse had stayed a secret for so long.

"In that moment, everything came back to punch me in the stomach. I felt disgusting, dirty and inhuman."

Fortunately, the diagnosis came early enough that anti-retroviral drugs prevented her baby from contracting HIV in the womb.

Tests later confirmed that the woman's sister had also been infected with HIV.

Raped in her bedroom

The woman told the Sunday Mirror that the abuse started after the man moved into her mother's home.

He began spoiling her with gifts and treating her with clothes and giving her cash. One day, when she was 12, he kissed her while her mother was making dinner.

"I was shocked and told him to stop but it only spurred him on," she said. "That was the start. I'd been in the bath one night a few weeks later, and he knew I'd be getting ready for bed so he came into my room.

"I tried to tell him to leave, but he forced me down onto the bed and ripped my towel away before raping me. I had no choice. I was terrified."

The woman became pregnant at 13 as a result of the abuse. She was forced into having a secret abortion, but her mother refused to believe that she had been raped by her stepfather and stuck by her husband's side.

The woman, now 22, said she is taking each day as it comes and is grateful that her son can live a happy and healthy life.