SWEENY, Texas – For 25 years, Krystal Graham locked away her tears. Now, with her father behind bars, she is finally letting them fall.
Graham is speaking out exclusively to KPRC 2 News Reporter Corley Peel about the alleged child sexual abuse she says she endured at the hands of her father, Timothy Dale Webb. He’s a former volunteer fire chief in Sweeny who is now indicted on six child sex crime charges.
“I did not ever think I would actually see the day I was brave enough or that I would have somebody actually believe me in my corner,” Graham said, her eyes filling with tears.
Graham says the alleged abuse began when she was 12 years old and continued until she was 18. She says she reported it to adults at the time, but her cry for help fell on deaf ears.
“I felt ignored. From that moment on, it was save myself or do what I had to do. Just let it happen and try to get through and on with my life,” she said.
Graham says she was dismissed as a wild child, and she believes her father’s standing with the local fire department made it easier for her cries for help to be ignored.
Everything changed earlier this year.
Graham saw news reports that her brother, Timothy David Webb, also a former Sweeny volunteer fire chief, had been indicted on 13 counts of child sex crimes. Another volunteer firefighter, Coleman Pollock, was indicted on similar charges and is accused of exchanging explicit photos of child victims with Timothy David.
Watching the arrests of her brother and a fellow firefighter gave Graham the courage to speak up about her father again.
“I looked around at what I’ve built, and I felt like I was okay enough to be able to get him out of that position where he could possibly hurt others or maybe even help others that may be in similar positions,” she said.
Her outcry led directly to her father’s indictment.
Graham says the weight of it all is difficult to put into words.
“There’s a lot of emotions. I can’t pick one. It ends up coming back down to just being numb,” she said.
The alleged abuse spans three generations of men in Graham’s family. Her father is now indicted. Her brother is in jail on 13 counts. And Sweeny Police say her grandfather is a registered sex offender.
Despite the pain of her past, Graham says she hopes her story sends a powerful message to other survivors.
“You need to be able to hold accountable those who did you wrong and stand up for yourself. The standing up for myself is what I hope comes from a lot more people,” she said.
Police believe there could be more victims across all three cases. Those with information are urged to contact the Sweeny Police Department.