A woman has bravely shared the shocking moment she discovered her ex-husband was a pedophile, and the signs she now wishes she'd noticed earlier.
Lynsey Crombie, a TV personality and social media influencer, first rose to fame on the British reality show Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners.
However, her personal life took a dark turn when she learned that the father of her two children had a criminal past.
The Shocking Discovery
Crombie, who was 28 weeks pregnant with twin daughters at the time, found out just months before her ex-husband's arrest that he was a pedophile.
Appearing on This Morning in 2021, she described the moment she learned the truth as "unbelievable" and "completely shocking."
"I had no idea," she said. "I had gone back to visit my parents for a few days, and I just thought, 'What’s gone on while I was away?’”
At the time, Crombie was unaware of the full details of her ex-husband's crimes, but it was revealed that he was a "schedule one sex offender," meaning he had been convicted of offenses against a child.
What followed was an overwhelming emotional reaction. Crombie recounted grabbing bleach to clean her home, including herself, in an attempt to rid herself of any trace of him.
“I remember pouring it all over the work surfaces, and over my own hands and arms, and I scrubbed. I scrubbed everything - myself included - with a scourer," she recalled, per Daily Mail. "I remember thinking that this man had touched me physically and I want all his germs to go."
The Signs She Missed
Looking back, Crombie believes there were several red flags that she overlooked during their relationship.
She explained how her ex-husband would often stay up late, often retreating to his office and pulling the plug out of the wall when she entered the room.
"Rather than just closing the laptop down or letting me see the screen, he’d actually pull the plug out of the wall," Crombie shared in a 2021 interview on the Life, Interrupted podcast.
"And it’s only when I look back – and I spotted this three or four times in the relationship – I think ‘what was he doing on the computer to actually physically pull it out of the wall?’” she added.
Crombie’s gut instinct told her to dismiss these odd behaviors at the time, but they now stand out as clear warning signs.
Coping with the Trauma
The psychological toll of learning about her husband's crimes left Crombie struggling to cope, but amidst the chaos, her children became her anchor.
After learning the truth, Crombie went into premature labor just five days later and gave birth to her twin daughters, Mollie and Olivia, who weighed under 3lbs at birth.
While initially struggling with the idea of having children with her abusive ex-husband, she now credits her daughters with saving her.
“Thank goodness that when my girls arrived, I looked at them and felt nothing but love. They actually saved me because I had to rebuild my life for them. I don’t think I’d be here without them,” she said.
Crombie has since moved on from the trauma of her past and found happiness with her second husband, Rob. The couple shares a teenage son, and the TV personality revealed that her daughters consider Rob to be their dad.
As for her ex, whom she refers to as "The Freak," Crombie says he has been incarcerated multiple times, most recently in 2022. Police had discovered disturbing content on his computer, involving children and animals, The Mirror reported.
She has since severed ties with his family, and her children will grow up without any connection to their father's relatives.