Victim of Wakefield predator who abused girls for 25 years tells him: 'I won't be silenced anymore'
Pervert forced himself onto young victims
A woman abused by a predatory paedophile told him she “won’t be silenced anymore” as he was forced to face up to his sordid past.
Christopher Wilkinson was jailed at Leeds Crown Court this week for a catalogue of offences spanning almost a quarter of a century and involving five victims.
The 60-year-old former coal-delivery man was told by the judge that he continues to blame drink and drugs for his behaviour, and “minimises” his own sexual interest in children.
During the sentencing hearing, an impact statement by one victim was read to the court. She was initially “branded a liar” for her claims of abuse.
She said: “I lost the happy-go-lucky kid I was was and became distant. I thought ‘what’s the point in being here?’
“I won’t be silenced anymore. What happened to me will always remain a part of my life story. It’s extremely hard to just let go.”
The court heard that 60-year-old Wilkinson spent years targeting young teenage girls.
He tried to force himself onto several, kissing and groping them and making crude sexualised comments. He even handed one notes, begging for sex and made threats if he did not get what he wanted.
The court heard in one incident, he stripped naked and was grinning at his crying victim.
Wilkinson, now of Burberry Close, Bradford, eventually admitted eight offences of indecent assault and one of sexual assault.
Mitigating, Richard Canning said his best points were his early guilty pleas, which he said was was rare among historic sex offenders.
He added: “He fully accepts, through his guilty pleas, that the complainants are telling the truth.”
He said Wilkinson abused alcohol and drugs for years that led to him lowering his inhibitions, but was now sober.
The judge, Recorder Guy Kearl KC, told Wilkinson: “You continued to minimise your behaviour and fail to take responsibility for your actions claiming they were the result of your alcohol and substance abuse at the time.
“It was a pattern of offending against female children. You are in denial that you are attracted to female children.”
He jailed him for 18 months, put him on the sex offender register for 10 years and gave him a 10-year sexual harm prevention order (SHPO).