The daughter of a man jailed for sex crimes after she found images on his laptop has spoken out about why she felt she had to report him to the police.

“It’s not for you, it’s for the thousands of children in the images,” she said.

Zoe (not her real name) said when she first saw the images she was confused – it took her nearly three years to report what she had seen.

Now she is hoping to encourage other people to come forward by sharing her experience.

At the time when she found the images, Zoe said her father had been a big help in her life, supporting her while she went through a rape case.

“I popped in the memory card, and I view things in picture format, and I saw – ‘Oh God, dad’s been looking at porn again’,” she said.

“I clicked on it and I was like – they’re not 18, they looked about eight at a push.

“But it was confusing because they were quite professionally done – like professional on a beach, posing, but children.”

Milford Mercury:

Zoe struggled to tell someone what she had seen, initially only telling a therapist that she thought a family member had child porn on their computer.

“For years I didn’t know what to do, I told members of the family, but I made them promise not to tell anyone because I wasn’t sure.

“I started second-guessing myself, I thought maybe people will think I’m lying about seeing child porn, I might be wrong. What if they just look really young for 18?

“But I kept telling myself – no, I know what a kid looks like, I know what development looks like.

“I waited a couple of years and it was constantly niggling.

“When I first reported it to the therapist I thought ‘Oh f***, I can’t take that back’ I knew everything would then go into motion. I was so scared of being wrong.”

Looking back, Zoe said she couldn’t recall ever having been abused by her father and at this point would rather not know.

“We don’t know if anything happened, I can’t remember if it did,” She said.

“Sometimes I think back to him bathing us as kids and I wonder if he did anything.

“If I could erase zero to 19 I would because every memory is now tainted – you rethink every single interaction you’ve had.”

Milford Mercury:

Before he went to prison, Zoe’s father called her, not knowing that she told the police know about the images.

“He called me and said he was suicidal, and that sent me into a complete spiral because – I know it’s not logical – but in my head, I was thinking ‘Oh, I’ve killed my dad,’ even though it’s his fault.

“He was the person who raised me, I want to kill off that love for him, but it’s difficult, I wish I could hate him completely.”

Before finding the images, Zoe hadn’t suspected her father of being a paedophile, saying people often found him to be charming.

“I had no idea, I always thought he was weird,” She said.

“I’ve been looking up the personality traits for a paedophile and dad fits them. He has no friends – none. He’s a serial womaniser, I think he hates women.

“You imagine a paedophile to be some sort of creepy guy rubbing himself in the corner, but my dad’s very clever, very charismatic, he gets on with everyone.

“He even worked on the school for years. He helped on the walks to school and I used to have friends round my house all the time.

“[Before it came out] I had to go round all my friends and say ‘weird question, but, did my dad ever make you feel uncomfortable in any way?’”

Zoe said she believes her father probably doesn’t see having the images as wrong.

“I think he’s probably deluded. He said to the police that he didn’t know child porn was a crime. Well, f*** off. Everyone knows child porn is a crime. Come on.

“I felt guilty for ages because of all the fuss it’s caused – which is a weird thought.

“But then every time I think that I think, ‘no I’ve stopped him abusing my cousins and nephews and nieces.”

Milford Mercury:

Zoe encouraged anyone who believes they have seen paedophilic images on their family or friends’ computers to go to the police and then find therapy if they need it.

“It took me two or three years; I know it’s difficult. But I would report it again, you’ve got to because it’s not for you,” she said.

“Even if it’s just one image or one video, you’re complicit [if you don’t report]. Reporting it isn’t for you, it’s for the thousands of children in the images – all the people in those images were abused.

“You have to keep remembering you’ve done the right thing, even if it doesn’t always feel like it.

“In therapy, they say you can’t control what happens around you, but you can only control your reactions to it. Emotions are going to come regardless, guilt is the main one for me, I don’t know why I feel guilty, I shouldn’t, but I do.”

The experience has left Zoe feeling very protective of children, constantly concerned about who they might be with.

“If you’re looking for good people in the world and you find that the world is full of s*** people, be the good people.

“Try to be nice, try to do some good, be the good person if you can’t find anyone else.

“Every time I feel guilty for reporting it, I just think, ‘it’s not for me’ I just happen to be some collateral damage in all this.

“It’s not for me it’s for them.”