For almost a decade Toni and Sophie Quirke held the darkest of secrets about a man who to the outside world appeared nothing but a loving grandad.

From the ages of just six and eight the pair had been sexually abused by Paul Wallis, who groomed them into believing his depraved behaviour was normal.

His “lecherous” actions weighed heavily on the girls, destroying their childhoods and later leading to Sophie making several suicide attempts.

But in 2015 their lives would change forever as they opened up for the first time about the abuse they had suffered.

It set in motion a chain of events that would see four other victims talk to police and Wallis put behind bars for his heinous crimes.

Now, Toni and Sophie say they refuse to let their traumatic experiences define their lives and are determined to try to stop it happening to anyone else.

They say speaking out and seeking justice has been “the most rewarding feeling ever”, and have urged others not to suffer in silence.

“I can’t say it wasn’t tough to go through because it was,” said Sophie, who is now 25 and a mum herself.

“We were put under huge pressure not to press charges [by relatives of Wallis] because of the damage it would do to the family.

“But I would do it all again because it was the right thing, not just for us, but for all his victims.

“There were six of us together in court when he was sentenced and it gave us a sense of relief and solidarity.”

Toni and Sophie are retelling their story to mark Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week, which starts today.

They hope it will reassure others who have endured similar experiences that they are “not alone”, and encourage more victims to speak out.

The nightmare for them began when childhood weekends at their dad’s parents’ home in Sturry took a sinister turn.

The girls were about six and eight when they woke in the darkness to find someone in bed between them.

“It clicked that it was my grandad,” recalls Sophie. “I could smell what I now know is alcohol on someone’s breath.

“He was tickling my back and I tried to fall back to sleep. He then put his hand into my knickers and started trying to touch me. I said ‘no’ and moved away, and he took his hand away.

“I rolled over and said ‘I think you should go get in bed with nan now grandad’, and he got up and he left.

“Me and Toni looked at each other, and I said ‘did grandad just put his hands on you too?’ She said ‘yes’, and it was kind of like ‘oh, OK’ and we rolled over and went to sleep.”

It was to be the first of many times that Wallis would touch the girls inappropriately.

It would take years for them to understand their grandad’s actions were abuse but, as they grew older, his behaviour continued and they began feeling uncomfortable in his presence.

The young girls struggled to reconcile the doting grandfather who showered them with treats, with the man who violated them.

“We were torn because he was our grandad, who did everything for us,” Sophie said.

“For a long time, I thought he loved me and can’t be a bad man. But that wasn’t the case because looking back, he was just grooming us.”

Wallis’s wicked behaviour was finally revealed when, aged 15, Sophie got her first boyfriend and became sexually aware.

“[Wallis] immediately had a problem with him, when no one else in the family did,” she said.

“It was because he considered him a threat and he couldn’t get to me anymore and do things like try and watch me in the shower or make inappropriate comments.

“It had got to the point where Toni and I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

In the summer of 2015, at the age of 16, Sophie found the courage to approach her mum – former Canterbury City Councillor Louise Harvey-Quirke – about the abuse. Her bravery encouraged Toni too to come forward.

Mrs Harvey-Quirke says learning of the dark motivation behind Wallis’s interest in her daughters was traumatising.

Speaking from her home near Sturry, she said: “This was a man who I loved and was like a dad to me. I believed him to be the perfect grandad who was always keen to take girls out and even go on holiday with them.

“So it was traumatising when my daughters told me because I was totally oblivious to what was going on, and that is something that will haunt me forever.

“But now, looking back, I can see what he was doing for the girls was way above what you’d expect of a grandad, and he was just manipulating them for opportunities to abuse them.”

Wallis was arrested in the spring of 2016 and, as police investigated, four other victims bravely came forward with allegations of abuse he carried out between 1984 and 2016.

One woman, now married with a family of her own, was groped by Wallis when she was 12.

While she stayed at his home in the 80s, he crept into her bed and touched her beneath her nightie.

Other victims told of suffering flashbacks, deteriorating mental health and strained adult relationships.

Wallis pleaded guilty before trial to three counts of indecent assault, sexually assaulting a child under 13 and four counts of sexual activity with a child.

He was jailed for seven years in front of a packed public gallery, with Judge Catherine Brown branding his actions “lecherous”, and his attitude “limited in insight and remorse”.

Watching him being led to the cells, bringing to an end a lengthy legal process that had been drawn out by Covid, was a monumental moment for Sophie and Toni.

“I don’t want to sugarcoat it, but the weight that was lifted off our shoulders when we reported it and eventually got justice was huge,” said Sophie, who now lives in Herne Bay.

“I think having your voice heard and getting the justice you deserve is the most rewarding feeling ever.

“Yes, there are bumps in the road, and yes, it’s difficult, but again, it’s worth it.

“If I had never gone to the police I think he would have carried on doing what he was doing and I think I would have spent the rest of my life having to live with the guilt and regret I felt staying quiet and it potentially putting other young girls at risk.

“It’s the biggest fear out of everything that you’re going to be called a liar, that you’re going to be told that people don’t believe you.

“But I think as long as you know in your heart of hearts that you’re being truthful to yourself, and you’re being honest about what happened to you, that’s all you need to get you through it.

“For us, coming forward and being brave and reporting it means that he can never hurt another child.

“And knowing that we might keep other young girls safe outweighs all the bad things we have had to deal with.”

Toni, 22, who works for the Student’s Union at Canterbury Christ Church University, added: “It consumed our lives and we would not want anyone else to suffer what we have, which is why we are supporting Sexual Abuse and Sexual Violence Awareness Week.”

The initiative is a national campaign to raise awareness of sexual abuse and violence and encourage opportunities for any organisation or individual to speak out.

It aims to shine a spotlight on what can be a hidden topic and highlight the work being done by numerous organisations for victims and create widespread conversation about the issue.