A teenage girl who was raped by her schoolmate has told of the nightmares and flashbacks that have made her “a shell of who I used to be,” as she described her attacker as a monster who belongs behind bars.
The girl told the Children’s Court that the rape – at a weekend party in late November 2019 – had left her ashamed and irreversibly damaged. “[I wish] we could turn back time and stay home for a movie rather than go to that stupid party,” she said.
A girl who was raped by her schoolmate said the crime has left her irreversibly damaged Credit:istock
The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was found guilty in May of six counts of sexual intercourse without consent, and one of intentionally choking without permission. He will be sentenced on August 25.
At the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, the court heard an initially consensual act between two Katoomba High students became non-consensual and involved multiple violations. The perpetrator failed to express remorse and has continued to stick by his not guilty plea.
His lawyer argued for a non-custodial sentence, saying the boy had a job, a steady girlfriend, and no signs of psychopathology or pre-existing personality disorders. He wanted to study music and go into the air force.
He also said the rape had occurred on a mattress in a living room, the girl had her phone, there were people nearby, and the offender had not invited her to the party. “There was no power imbalance,” he said. “I noticed they were the same age.”
But, in her victim impact statement – read in the presence of her rapist – the girl described how she had struggled every day since it happened. “You’ve continued to live your life without the repercussions of raping me,” she said.
“I will never recover from what you did. But I still choose not to end it all every day and live the best life I can for myself in spite of your cruelty.”
She said the boy’s little sisters deserved better. “I hurt for them knowing you are the man they probably looked up to and know the reality of the monster you are.” Her mother de ella had to hold her while she sobbed, and her father de ella had to wake her from her nightmares de ella.