Paedophile who groomed and abused girls jailed

Christopher Oates has been sentenced to 13 years in prison

A paedophile who groomed and sexually abused two teenage girls has been jailed for 13 years.

Polices said Christopher Oates groomed his victims, aged 14 and 17, before forcing them to have sex with men.

The 45-year-old is the first man to be convicted as part of Operation Green Jacket, which is investigating grooming gang offences in south Manchester in the early 2000s.

Manchester Crown Court heard Oates pretended to be the "boyfriend" of the younger teenager, plying her with drugs as a way of manipulating her into sex work.

The court heard that when the girl protested, Oates dragged her down an alleyway before violently attacking her and threatening her with a gun, stating: "You do as I say - you're mine now."

Detectives investigating her case were able to identify a second victim, who was 17 when Oates forced her on to the streets of Manchester.

Both victims recall him taking them to a designated spot in Manchester city centre at least once a week to meet men for sex.

Oates forced the two girls to carry out sex acts for money

One night, he organised for them to be recorded on video with a man.

The court heard Oates, of Tannock Road in Stockport, would supply both victims with cocaine and alcohol and pressured them to take crack cocaine and heroin.

Police said he aimed to get the girls so addicted to drugs that they would be dependent on him.

The girls were able to escape.

In victim impact statements read out in court, the first victim said: "You groomed me, you put a gun to my head, and not only did you abuse me, but you let other men too."

The second said: "I felt absolutely vile during and after the incident involving the video camera and also when I stood on street corners, I felt scared about who would be in the next car that stopped, and I was terrified."

When Oates was first investigated for drugs offences in 2012, police also found him to be in possession of indecent images.

He fled to Bangkok in Thailand and then lived for a time in the Dominican Republic.

He was arrested in Stockport in 2023.

Officers found a false passport, more indecent images of children and evidence he had been grooming a child on social media with sexualised messages.

Christopher Oates travelled abroad using a false passport

Oates later admitted two counts of making indecent images of children, taking indecent images of children, and attempting to engage a child in sexual communication.

He also pleaded guilty to the production of cannabis and two counts of possessing an identity document with improper intent, along with possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence, three counts of engaging in penetrative sexual activity with a girl aged 13 to 15, and two counts of causing/inciting a child aged 13 to 17 to prostitution.

Outside court, Det Insp Eleanor Humphreys from Greater Manchester Police said: "I would like to commend the two women at the centre of this case for the strength they demonstrated throughout our investigation and subsequent legal proceedings.

"Despite Oates's cowardly attempts to evade facing justice, the evidence we uncovered was overwhelming, and his crimes finally caught up with him.

"I hope this brings these survivors a sense of closure after all these years."

Lucy Dowdall, specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service's Organised Child Sexual Abuse Unit, said: "The Crown Prosecution Service remains dedicated to pursuing justice for victims of child sexual abuse.

"We will continue to work tirelessly with law enforcement partners to hold violent sex offenders like Oates accountable - no matter how much time has passed since they committed their crimes."