“I can do what I want”: Sick dad and partner jailed after subjecting biological daughter to horrific sexual abuse
The international community and the British justice system have been completely paralyzed with absolute horror following the sentencing of a twisted couple whose stomach-churning crimes have fast become one of the most viral and fiercely debated criminal cases in the country. A biological father who callously told his teenage daughter that he “could do what he wanted” to her after her 16th birthday has been slammed with a heavy prison sentence. The survivor, 18-year-old Demi Howes, has bravely waived her automatic right to anonymity to expose the systematic abuse inflicted by her father, Matthew Ward, and his partner, Sophie Eason, triggering an absolute media frenzy online.
The harrowing saga began when Demi, then 15, tracked down her biological father on social media via Eason in a desperate attempt to escape a chaotic and abusive home environment. Believing she had finally discovered a safe space where she could belong and live like a normal teenager, the vulnerable youth moved into their residence in Derbyshire. However, the dream of family safety collapsed into a living nightmare. Ward began making inappropriate advances, crossing physical boundaries when Demi was just 15 years old. The moment she turned 16, Ward weaponized the legal age of consent, chillingly telling her that she was an adult now and that he could do whatever he pleased, embarking on a horrific campaign of penetrative sexual abuse.
Further compounding the depravity of the household, Ward successfully manipulated his 30-year-old partner, Sophie Eason—whom Demi had come to regard as a mother figure—into actively participating in the assaults. The sickening operation only came to light during a separate, high-stakes police probe when tactical units seized Ward’s smartphone. Upon breaching the device, digital forensic investigators uncovered a disturbing archive of messages. The data exposed that Ward was actively sending messages to outside individuals, attempting to broker a larger sexual encounter involving himself, his daughter, and another woman. Additional data explicitly proved Eason’s direct involvement in the multi-layered abuse.
Appearing at Derby Crown Court, the brave teenager stood face-to-face with her abusers to read a devastating Victim Personal Statement, directly labeling the defendants as “dangerous pedophiles” who should never be allowed near children. Demi detailed the severe psychological toll of the trauma, revealing that she still suffers from intense night terrors, severe PTSD, and physical flashbacks that make escaping the horror impossible. Compounding her pain, she revealed that sections of her own family have rejected her, choosing to blame the victim rather than confront the absolute malice of the defendants.
Faced with an airtight prosecution built by Derbyshire Police, the couple executed a sudden, first-day trial turnaround, changing their pleas to guilty. Ward admitted to multiple counts of penetrative adult sexual activity with a family minor, alongside charges of making and distributing indecent images of a child. Eason pleaded guilty to facilitating and participating in the sexual activity.
On June 12, the presiding judge handed down a definitive sentence, locking Ward away for 15 years and four months, while Eason received a term of two years and eight months. Both individuals have been slapped with indefinite Sexual Harm Prevention Orders and lifelong police registration mandates. As the digital space explodes with viral support for Demi’s unparalleled tenacity, the countdown to the long process of healing has officially begun, leaving a unified public demanding maximum vigilance against domestic monsters.
