'Monster' rapist exposed by victim as council binman who emptied her rubbish - The Mirror

Chelsea Jones was at home in Bucknall, Stoke-on-Trent, when she saw the man who raped her when she was just 12 years old emptying the bins outside her address

A woman has exposed the "monster" rapist who attacked her after seeing him emptying her bins more than a decade after the assault.

Chelsea Jones, from Bucknall in Stoke-on-Trent, noticed an unwelcome but familiar face working as a council binman on her street.

It had been 10 years since Aidan Edwards was sentenced for raping her when she was just 12 years old, but she was still sure it was him.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council received Chelsea's complaint and "terminated" his "agency appointment" the following morning.

As a survivor of a sex crime, Chelsea has the right to remain anonymous, a right she has chosen to waive to expose the "monster".

In the years after the attack, Chelsea has done her best to lead a normal life, but was horrified to see Edwards collecting the bins outside her home.

Chelsea, now 25, told Stoke-on-Trent Live: “I just froze. I didn’t know what to do. But then I voiced out and I was like, ‘What do you think you’re doing in this area? You’re a rapist!’.

“I thought I can’t just run back home this time. I had to say something. I contacted Stoke-on- Trent City Council explaining the situation. I let them know what he’d done and when he’d been sentenced. They told me they were investigating it - and then I found out he’d been sacked later that morning.

“I can’t be silent no more because he just thinks he can walk around the area and I won’t say nothing. Now I’ve just got to stand up from the rooftops and let the whole world know what he did and what a monster he is.”

It appears Edwards had not declared his conviction to Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

A council spokesman said: “The resident filed a formal complaint to the council which has been investigated. 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. We take complaints of this nature extremely seriously, and we thank the resident for their bravery in speaking out.”

Staffordshire Police have confirmed the conviction. A police spokesman said: "A 27-year-old man, of Bentilee, was convicted of two counts of rape at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court in December 2015. He was sentenced to a three-year detention in a youth offenders' institution on 23 February 2016. As part of his sentencing, he was also placed on the Sex Offenders' Register indefinitely."