We have always been taught that honesty is the best policy. When we enter a relationship, we want a partner we can trust, and if that person isn't honest with us, then it's often over. No matter how much love exists, can you really stay with someone who is telling lies? What if you find out that they are, in fact, living a double life?
A man and woman were together for seven years when she finally found out that her husband was not the man she thought he was. But he didn't tell the truth; instead, she found out when police came knocking on the door and exposed his dark secret: He was a pedophile in possession of thousands of images of child pornography.
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She was deeply in love.
The woman, Amelia, told the Mirror she and Adam had a fantastic seven-year relationship. They began dating in 2010 and married in 2013. She said Adam was the man of her dreams and she knew he was the one.
"He was the most wonderful person; he was kind, gentle, and considerate. He worked for the local council. My family and friends couldn't have found a bad word to say about him," she explained.
She never had a clue that anything was wrong.
Adam was totally open with Amelia.
She knew all his passwords and would regularly look at his phone and laptop. He never threw up any red flags.
"He was very open with me," she explained. "I spent a lot of time looking at his phone – we had a cat that died and he had a lot of pictures on his phone. He was very comfortable with me scrolling. But he knew all along that I would never find anything."
But Adam was, in fact, a sinister sex offender who was hiding his secret. He had camera rolls disguised as apps with complex passwords she knew nothing about, hiding images and video of minor children being sexually abused.
"He was more than happy for me to look through his devices because he was calculating enough to find ways to keep everything a secret. It's horrifying," Amelia told the Mirror.
One day, there was a knock on the door that changed everything.
Police arrived at their home at 6:30 a.m. on a weekday in April 2017. She rushed to the door, and as soon as she heard officers say "indecent images," she assumed it had to do with someone who had stayed with them in the past. She made cups of tea.
Her husband "began circling the top of the mug and mouthed the word 'circles' to me. I knew exactly what that meant. I had friends who had volunteered for Circles," she explained. Circles of Support and Accountability is an organization that helps rehabilitate sex offenders. She knew right then what was going on.
"As soon as he mouthed that, I knew there and then that they weren't here for our old lodger. They were here for my husband," Amelia said.
She asked to leave the room and went upstairs with the female officer. "I was numb and in a state of shock. Once he'd indicated that to me, I couldn't go back in there," she said.
Amelia said Adam had excuses.
After meeting with police, he was sent home and had plenty of excuses for what had happened.
"He said, 'When I was younger, I was very shy and didn't have much success with girls.' He felt growing up that he never had those 'life experiences like cheeky snogs in the playground,'" Amelia explained. "The most ridiculous excuse was that he apparently had an interest in nudism. There is nothing in my eyes that justifies looking at indecent images of children in any shape or form."
She soon realized their "perfect relationship" was a farce.
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Their marriage was over, and Amelia was thankful.
She was sad, but also extremely relieved. Even though their marriage was over, a silver lining lingered in her husband's capture.
"We were trying hard to conceive and I was told that I wasn't able to have children. We'd attended groups about adoption to learn about the process. I count my lucky stars that the universe made sure we hadn't got to that stage yet," she said.
