Leeds man jailed a decade after carrying out sex assault

Scott Heeps was jailed for two years after being found guilty of carrying out the attack on the victim in the Bramley area of Leeds in 2005.

A court heard the incident was reported to police at the time of the incident by the girl’s mother but it was not investigated properly. Officers spoke to Heeps about the allegation but he denied any wrong-doing and the victim and her mother were never formally interviewed. Leeds Crown Court heard the girl suffered serious psychological harm as a result of her ordeal and was persuaded to approached police again in 2013. Heeps was eventually charged with sexual assault and was found guilty of the offence by a jury in May this year. In a victim impact statement read out on her behalf to the court, the victim said: “I do not believe he deserves the satisfaction to know how he makes me feel but he does deserve to feel guilty for the rest of his life for what he did to me.” She added: “He kills me inside, day in, day out. I have got to live with what he did to me for the rest of my life.”

Heeps, now 27, of Fairfield Hill, was told the offence was so serious that only an immediate prison sentence could be imposed. Referring to the delay in Heeps being brought to justice, Recorder Anton Lodge, QC, said: “Nothing further was done by police. They did not seek to gain evidence from (the victim or her mother) and that delay from 2005 to 2013 cannot be attributed, in my judgement, to you in any way at all.”