"Shocking Facebook Message from My Ex Exposed His Abuse – But What the Police Uncovered Next Was Even More Disturbing"

Opening the Facebook message from her ex Andrew Williams, mum of one Zoe Johnson suddenly froze in abject terror.

They had split months ago, but she was confronted by a photo of herself fast asleep in bed, her top pulled up to expose her breasts. Initially terrified Williams was stalking her, Zoe contacted the – but what detectives uncovered next on the brute’s phone was more monstrous than she ever could have predicted.

Digital forensic experts then recovered a digital graveyard of deleted files containing horrific, graphic videos of Williams repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting carer Zoe’s completely unconscious body.

Suffering from and , Zoe, 34, relied on heavy, doctor-prescribed sleeping pills to cope with chronic pain, with Williams using Zoe’s medical vulnerability to turn her home into a hunting ground.

After gathering evidence, the lead detective delivered a chilling verdict that will haunt Zoe, from Stockton-on-Tees, forever, saying: “If I didn’t know you were alive, I would have thought I was looking at a corpse.”

Today, Zoe is bravely waiving her anonymity and sharing her harrowing story to warn other women about the dangers of and ‘stealth drugging’.

Supported by her loving new partner, Iain, 42, who she has been with for over a year, Zoe is reclaiming her life and urging victims to trust their gut instincts.

Zoe says: “What happened to me will always be a scar, but I refuse to let that monster write the rest of my story.

“I met Andrew in 2019 through a friend at my son’s primary , he was funny and down to earth, a normal lad.

“Our first date was a cup of tea and a film, he was just my type, a ‘dream boyfriend’ and everything was fine for six months.”

But the cracks started to show in March 2020, when Zoe’s best friend died, and the couple decided that Andrew should move in so they could be together during the first Covid lockdown.

Zoe’s sister Jocelyn was the first to raise the alarm.

Zoe recalls: “It was my sister who said I was being controlled in ways I didn’t even realise.

“After my friend died we stopped having sex but Andrew thought it was because I was cheating on him.

“Whenever I went out, even if it was to work, Andrew would bombard me with constant messages telling me to come home, saying he needed something or couldn’t cope with my son.

“He wasn’t working, he had no money coming in so there were lots of arguments.

“He was making excuses to ruin my life but I ignored it because I’m a people pleaser and I’d rather avoid arguments.

“I’ve been in an before so I’d do anything to avoid an argument, especially in front of my son who was only four or five at the time.”

Zoe and Andrew split in July 2020 and she moved on, but two months later she received the life-shattering message from him, out of the blue.

She said: “I looked so out of it I could have been comatose but it showed my boobs and I couldn’t work out when it had been taken – or by who.

“My first thought was that someone might be sneaking in and watching me sleep but that wasn’t possible because my new partner had been there.

“The photo came via a fake Facebook account so we exchanged about ten messages as I tried to work out who it was.

“He was avoiding giving me answers at first, but when it dawned on me that it was Andrew I went to the police.

“Suddenly strange things started falling into place.

“I had odd memories of times I had woken up in the middle of the night to find him on top of me, trying to have sex with me, but it was a blur because I was taking so much heavy medication at the time.

“Another time he told me I’d taken my trousers off in my sleep.

“I was taking strong painkillers for fibromyalgia, anti-depressants and but I remember sometimes he’d bring me a cup of tea before bed that tasted like the tablets. He told me it was all in my head.

“There were strange things that I had ignored because I didn’t want another row.”

Cops quizzed Andrew and seized his laptop and phone – where they made the grim discoveries.

There were eight horrifying videos of him raping Zoe: “I felt disgusted and violated,” she said.

“I still have no memory of any of it. The police advised me not to watch the videos so I have never seen them.

“The officer said he’d never seen anything like it in twenty years of being in the police.”

Tests revealed that Williams had been secretly doubling Zoe’s medication so she was taking twice as much of a prescription painkiller called Pregablin and the anti-depressant Mirtazapine.

In March 2021 Williams, then 39, from , was hauled before Teesside Crown Court.

Confronted with his own sickening video evidence of him raping Zoe, as well as performing sex acts on her, his arrogance crumbled.

Williams attempted to argue that Zoe had consented to the vile sex acts, and they had watched the videos together but later pleaded guilty to two counts of rape, two counts of sexual assault, and one count of assault by penetration.

The monster was jailed for nine years and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for life – but he has applied for parole and is due for early release in January 2027.

Although he was slapped with a lifelong restraining order against Zoe, she believes he has been trying to add her on social media platforms from behind bars.

She added: “I was terrified about going to court, and it was terrible seeing him when I gave evidence but I want to make other women aware that this is not normal.

“He treated me like an object and this is not something anyone should be allowed to do.

“He’s not meant to contact me ever again but he’s been trying, people like that never change. In my opinion his sentence was not long enough.

“I fear he will meet a new woman and do it again.

“Knowing what happened to me makes me feel stupid, and I’m scared of going to sleep because I have constant nightmares about it.

“I thought I knew him but that’s all been crushed. I constantly question my own judgement and I can’t trust people.

“It will never be over in my head.

“I want to warn other women to always trust their own instincts, listen to that funny feeling and never stay quiet. We are not objects.”