He threatened her, saying her parents would "go to prison" if she spoke out.
Terrified, she remained silent for more than four decades, until a chance encounter on Facebook with a childhood friend prompted her to go to the police.
Jayne took the case to court and admits she felt pity for Platt as he looked so elderly and frail. However, any sympathy quickly vanished when he laughed in her face from the dock.
Platt, 89, was jailed for a year. His sentence was later reduced, on the grounds of his age, meaning he only served ONE week.
Here, Jayne, 52, a mum-of-five from Stockon-on-Tees, has shared her story…
Growing up in the small North Yorkshire village of Hutton Rudby, I used to spend hours playing in the quiet streets with my friends.
I would run, laugh and hide without a care in the world until the sun went down and I had to wave goodbye and head home.
It was an idyllic childhood – until something happened which changed my life forever.
It was 1972, I was seven years old and I had been playing with one of my best friends.
He sat me on his knee and his hand began to move up my leg
We always stopped and chatted to another friend’s dad, Vernon Platt.
I loved visiting his house because he has a cuckoo clock that I was fascinated by.
I loved watching the little bird pop out from behind the wooden doors. He would pick me up and let me have a closer look.
Vernon, then in his 40s, was friendly and one day I bumped into him. He smiled at me and told me: "I've got something to show you."
I hoped it was another cuckoo clock but Vernon didn't take me to his hallway where the clock had pride of place. Instead he led me to his garage.
He sat me on his knee and his hand began to move up my leg. I couldn't do anything but look straight ahead as he probed between my legs.
I was completely frozen to the spot. I knew it was wrong but he told me: "If you tell anyone your parents will go to jail."
He abused me for almost three years from 1972 to 1975, until he moved away from our village with no explanation.
Vernon would always find a way to get me on my own and touch me, leaving me feeling disgusted.
I didn't understand his actions but I knew what he was doing was wrong, and I was too ashamed to tell anyone about it.
As I got older, the secret ate away at me. I became an angry child and an even angrier teenager.
My relationships became more and more difficult. I married in 1988 when I was 32 but it was not a success and we divorced in 2000.
Meeting my second husband, Juan Mahgagahbow, now 47, online in 2001, I told him everything.
He was horrified but never pressured me to go to the police.
We married in 2003 and Juan took on my daughters, Lucy and Harriet, now 26 and 22, as if they were his own.
We went on to have three children of our own, twins Leia and Rebecca, now 15, and a boy, Joseph, now 12.
Because of what happened to me, I was overprotective of my four girls and taught them never to speak to strangers. When my first daughter, Lucy, was born, I knew I had a strong responsibility to protect her and at times this felt overwhelming.
I couldn't let her out of my sight – I was so afraid someone would hurt her in the same way that Vernon had me. Then, at the age of 51, everything began to unravel.
In January 2017 I saw the name of a childhood friend pop up on Facebook.
She had been my friend while Vernon had been abusing me and all of a sudden everything came flooding back. I knew I needed to go to the police.
But I panicked he was dead, suddenly terrified by the thought of Vernon's crimes going unpunished.
He looked really old and I felt sorry for him
Dialling 101, the police non-emergency number, I told a detective I was abused when I was a young child. The officer listened to what I had to say and told me I had done the right thing in reporting Vernon.
Officers visited my house and I had to discuss every detail of the attacks. It was hard, but I knew it had to be done to get justice.
The police contacted Vernon and to my immense relief he was alive – and he admitted his crimes which had occurred more than 40 years earlier.
At Northallerton Magistrates' Court this June Vernon Platt, 89, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault and the case was adjourned for sentencing.
I wasn't sure how it would feel to come face to face with Vernon after all those years.
But I hadn't been expecting the emotion which overwhelmed me – pity for the frail, old man who had arrived at court with his elderly wife. He looked really old and I felt sorry for him.
Then something happened which shocked me. I saw him and his wife laughing and joking together as though they didn't have a care in the world and any sympathy I had for him vanished. He clearly had no remorse.
So I was elated as he was sentenced him to a year in prison and he was led away in handcuffs.
He clearly hadn't expected to go to jail and I felt as though justice had been done.
But just a week later, before this news had even sunk in, I received a phone call to say Vernon was appealing his sentence and I faced another day in court.
Lucy was by my side at Teesside Crown Court, as we awaited the judge's decision.
Vernon's barrister argued he was very old, and not a risk to the community.
The judge ruled his sentence was to be reduced to eight months, suspended for 18 months, meaning he was free to leave prison after serving just one week of his sentence.
I couldn't believe this had happened after everything I had gone through to get justice.
But in the weeks that followed I came to terms with the decision in my own way.
I took comfort from the fact I had been believed and Vernon had been publicly convicted of his crimes against me.
One week is nothing compared to the decades of suffering he put me through.
However, I am proof that it is never too late to bring someone to justice for crimes that have been committed.
Want more real life?
Drugged and gang-raped at 14 after being lured to a party – Phillipa shares her remarkable story with Fabulous.
And a woman who was raped by her babysitter bravely waived her right to stay anonymous, and encouraged other survivors to come forward.
- Love real life stories? We're always on the look out for case studies to feature on Fabulous Online. Join our Facebook group and you could make money by telling your story.
Hollyoaks' Luke Morgan is sent to jail for assaulting Scott Drinkwell
Source: Read Full Article