A young woman from Stoke-on-Trent has described her ongoing trauma after discovering the man who raped her when she was 12 years old working as a bin collector outside her home.
The shocking discovery
Chelsea Jones, now 25, was at her home in Bucknall when she spotted Aiden Edwards, who admitted raping her when she was just 12, working for the local council's waste collection service. The encounter left her feeling horrified and vulnerable, particularly as she believed he was prohibited from being near her residence.
Chelsea had been under the impression that Edwards faced lifetime restrictions regarding her location, but discovered these limitations only applied for two months following his release from youth prison.
A childhood destroyed
The assault occurred when Chelsea was merely 12 years old and Edwards was 14. She recalled meeting him through mutual friends and how their relationship developed. "I was friends with a lot of girls and boys, and I met him through a friend," she explained. "We kept going out every single night and eventually he said he wanted me to be his girlfriend. I wanted to be friends, and I thought he was fine with just being friends."
The attack happened one Sunday evening in a field. "As he went to speak to me, he put his foot behind me, and I fell down and he did what he did," Chelsea remembered. "I thought I was going to die."
System failures and ongoing fears
Edwards received a three-year sentence in a youth institution after admitting two counts of rape in February 2016. He was also placed on the sex offenders' register indefinitely. However, Chelsea claims she wasn't informed about his release until three days after it occurred.
After spotting Edwards outside her home in mid-August, Chelsea confronted him during his second appearance. "I confronted him and voiced my opinion, and he disappeared with the bin men to collect my bin," she said.
She immediately contacted both Staffordshire Police and Stoke-on-Trent City Council. While the council promptly dismissed Edwards after discovering he hadn't declared his conviction, police informed her they couldn't intervene as he had completed his sentence.
"I'm 25 and it's been 12 years since it's happened and it's still torturing me," Chelsea revealed. "He's got no license on him now. He can walk past my house. Unless something happens, the police won't step in again."
She expressed frustration with the justice system, stating: "The whole way through it's been a complete joke - I don't feel like the victim at all."
Council response and ongoing concerns
Stoke-on-Trent City Council confirmed receiving Chelsea's formal complaint in September and investigating the matter. A council spokesperson stated: "We can confirm the individual in question was provided to the council via an external agency. The information we hold demonstrates the individual did not declare the conviction, despite being requested to do so – as is required. We have terminated the agency appointment for this individual."
Despite the council's swift action, Chelsea continues to feel unsafe. "I still don't feel secure," she admitted. "He knows where I live now. Why aren't they protecting me?"
Having waived her right to anonymity as a sex crime victim, Chelsea now advocates for better protection for rape survivors, arguing that victims deserve greater consideration in the justice system.
