Chesterfield woman says man she claims sexually-assaulted her when she was just 12 years old has escaped justice

The mum claims Henry Oates, 63, left her struggling with relationships and eventually led to a suicide attempt when she saw him by chance years later.

Prior to his death Oates, who died on February 17, had pleaded not guilty to numerous sexual offences at Derby Crown Court.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the Derbyshire Times she feels Oates has not been held accountable for what she says happened when she was a child

She described how she has struggled to understand why the abuse happened, often blaming herself. She said: “So I was a bit confused, I was scared and I didn’t speak to anyone. It was a sick feeling, I suppose. It just changed.”

As boyfriends came into her life, what she had experienced affected her perception of what constitutes a normal relationship.

She said: “Usually at that age, you get a boyfriend and you don’t think about doing that sort of stuff but when I had boyfriends I was expecting stuff to happen. I was thinking ‘why are you not doing this, surely that’s what everyone does’.”

Around six years ago she saw Oates in a McDonald's in Chesterfield. She said: “Everything just came back to me at that point. I went home and took an overdose. I had a massive flood of memories and emotions and took an overdose and just remember waking up in the hospital.”

Eventually, in August 2020, she went to the police and was interviewed about what she claimed Oates had done to her. After three years of investigations charges were brought against the 63-year-old delivery driver.

On February 5, Oates pleaded not guilty at Derby Crown Court to a number of offences relating to the woman and another young girl.

They included three counts rape, two counts of sexually assault by touching, gross indecency, indecent assault and intending to pervert the course of justice.

She said: “I kind of wanted him to say not guilty because I wanted to have my say in court. I wasn’t scared, I was happy to stand up and say it.”

Just under two weeks later Oates died of complications related to kidney disease, hyper-tension and heart disease. Speaking about the moment she discovered he had died, she said: “I cried for about 30 minutes. I was shocked, I was annoyed.

"I kind of thought he’s got away with it. I was annoyed that I’d spent three years going back and forward with police to finally get a date, for him to not have to go through it and be responsible for the stuff he had done. I was angry and then I thought ‘is it karma, is it what he deserves for what he’s done?’.”

"But it was taken away from me and I feel like I still can’t tell people what he’s done. But someone needs to listen and hear what he was like. Because it never got to trial no-one has officially heard what I’ve got to say.”