Teri Hatcher‘s nearly 40-year nightmare is finally over – the evil fiend who abused her as a child is dead.
Richard Hayes Stone – the uncle she helped put behind bars – died last year of colon cancer at age 70 in a California prison medical center.
"For Teri, it’s the end of a nightmare that has haunted her since she was 5 years old," a family source told The ENQUIRER.
"It must be a huge relief to her to know this man will never walk the streets again and hurt other little girls like she was hurt."
When he died, Stone had served six years of a 14-year sentence for molesting two girls – one of whom was so distraught, she shot herself.
But the monster might have walked free if it hadn’t been for gutsy Teri, 44, coming forward to reveal her own terrible secret to police.
The Desperate Housewives star was shattered when she heard that 14-year-old Sarah Van Cleem put of Sunnyvale, Calif., had killed herself – and left a suicide note implying that Richard Stone was to blame for her death.
The note said: "You’re probably thinking that a normal teenager doesn’t do this. Well, ask Dick."
The family source said: "Everything pointed to Teri’s uncle Dick Stone. But Teri learned that police feared they didn’t have enough evidence to convict him of molesting Sarah and another girl.
"No other victims wanted to talk, but Teri had the guts to step forward and contact police. She told them that Stone – the ex-husband of her mother’s sister – had molested her between the ages of 5 and 7 when she lived in Sunnyvale, Calif.
"One time it happened when her uncle took her and another girl to the Great America amusement park.
"But Stone denied everything. He was a brilliant guy working in Silicon Valley, and he thought he was going to get away with it."
And he nearly did. In 2002, just two days before a hearing to dismiss the case, Stone was shown Teri’s police statement – and realized his sick game was over. He agreed to plead guilty to four counts of molesting Sarah and the other girl, and was sentenced to 14 years.
In a 2006 Vanity Fair magazine interview,Teri said: "I was blown over by this girl’s pain. I kept thinking, ‘What do Ido with this information I have that no one else has?’"
Finally, she decided: "It’s time for me to stop hiding. I don’t want to pretend it never happened anymore."
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Chuck Gillingham, who prosecuted Stone, said his death "closes the book on a very, very sad tragedy. Unfortunately, those who are still alive will always suffer from his actions."
