SCROLLING through Facebook, Angel Buxton saw a face she recognised and felt instantly sick.
As she read the words about how a “monstrous” paedophile had been jailed for filming himself abusing a child, a rush of guilt came over her.

Angel Buxton, now 27, is a devoted mum-of-five Credit: Supplied

Angel, at 12, on a family holiday, which she said she feared due to her uncle’s behaviour Credit: Supplied
The man in the image accompanying the news article was her uncle – and he had sexually abused her as a child, too.
Angel was just five years old when the abuse started in 2003, while her dad’s younger brother George Bellwood was 10, and the pair would play together at their nan’s house in the Lake District during the summer holidays.
She recalls how George, now 34, was “trusted to take care” of his little niece, but little did her father or grandmother know of the true horror that was unfolding.
Angel, now 27, says: “They had no clue. If my dad was home, he’d be none the wiser watching TV and Nan always thought I was safe too. 

“My first memory is Uncle George kissing me with his tongue. I remember the colour, smell, furniture, everything. He was old enough to know what he was doing. He would force himself on me, putting his hands in my pants.”
Angel says the abuse would continue every time she visited her dad, who lived with his mother, Angel’s nan.
Five years later, when Angel was 10 and George was 15, he would bombard her with gifts and pretend to be her boyfriend.
She says: “He’d ask if I had a boyfriend yet, and if I knew what to do with one.

George Bellwood, Angel’s uncle abused her from the age of seven Credit: Supplied

George, then 11, Angel Buxton, then six, and Angel’s father Credit: Supplied
“He started asking sexual questions and showing me how to do things, pretending to be boyfriend and girlfriend.
“He’d tell me how special I was, that I was his favourite niece and there was no-one like me.
“Every Christmas, Easter, birthday, he’d give me a present in front of the family. I had lots of Barbies and teddy bears. He looked like the perfect, loving uncle.”
As Angel grew older, so did the hold her depraved uncle had over her, as he begged her not to tell anyone.
She says: “He always said I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone or I’d be in trouble and so would he.
“He said the police are bad guys and they’d put him away and that my dad and my nan would never believe me.”
The abuse continued until Angel was 12 years old, when her family moved away and George, then 17, got a girlfriend. However, their paths still crossed, leaving Angel terrified. 
She says: “I’d still see him at family occasions and felt a loyalty to him as a niece, but I was scared.”

George was later charged with seperate child sex offences Credit: Supplied

Angel got her uncle to confess after sending him a message on Facebook Credit: Supplied
It was only when Angel became a mum for the first time that she realised just how serious the abuse she had suffered as a child was – and finally felt able to speak up.
In 2019, she sent a group text to her family, telling them how George had spent years abusing her – but he managed to “talk everyone out of it.”
Fearing she would never be believed, Angel knew she had to get George to admit to what he did himself – so messaged him on Facebook. 
“I confronted him, telling him he had ruined my childhood and had taken years away from me. I told him how it was eating me alive that our family didn’t know the truth. 
“He replied saying he wished he could take it all back, he was sorry and that he hated himself. He begged me not to tell anyone. 
“I took screenshots and sent it to my family and I also went to the police.”
Police interviewed Angel about the messages but the stress became too much for her and she asked the police to drop the case. 
Angel was keen to move on with her life, and went on to have four more children. But then in 2024 while scrolling through Facebook, Angel froze on the spot when she saw her uncle’s face appear in her newsfeed. 

George has since been jailed jailed for 24 years for 19 offences – including raping a child under 13 years old. Credit: Supplied

He confessed on Facebook Credit: Supplied

He apologised and said it shouldn’t have happened

The messages helped convince police Credit: Supplied
The article revealed how he had been jailed for 21 years for 19 offences – including raping a child under 13 years old. The court heard how he would give the victim his phone as a form of distraction whilst he carried out his horrific sex acts over a number of years. 
Jailing him at Durham Crown Court, Judge Joanne Kidd said he had carried out the “most heinous, monstrous and violent abuse” during a “campaign of rape”.
Angel says:  “I felt physically sick. I also felt guilty, because if I’d come forward this would never have happened.
“I’d only seen my uncle months before at our nan’s funeral. I rang the police, furious. I wanted my own justice.
“The officer told me they were happy to make a new case and took my statement and his confession to the CPS. This time, I was ready.”
With her uncle already starting his prison sentence, he was then charged with five counts of sexual assault against Angel. 

While she awaited his trial, Angel went through further hell when her baby daughter died. 
She explains: “I was nine months pregnant and was induced, but she had no heartbeat and died from a lack of oxygen.
“As she died, my officer called me to tell me George had pleaded not guilty. It was horrendous.”
In December last year, during George’s trial for the abuse against her, Angel bravely gave a victim statement.
She said: “Throughout the years of abuse as a child I was scared, I was made to believe it was my fault, and that no-one would believe me.
“This affected my daily life from sleeping, socialising, trusting, and engaging in what should have been normal activities. I lived in fear he’d come back for more or find it in other children as I grew up and got older.
“I hope prison brings him time to reflect on the things he has done. He stole my innocence and childhood, the colour from my life, and he made my days a living hell.”
It took just 15 minutes for the jury to give a guilty verdict and his 21-year sentence was increased to 24 years.
With her uncle finally behind bars, Angel is now trying to move on with her life. 
She says: “I’ll never mentally or physically recover from this but I won’t be held back by him any longer.

“A lot of family haven’t been a support but I have my beautiful kids and my partner by my side.”