She said her life was hell.
The woman who stood at the witness stand Friday morning in P.E.I. Supreme Court in Charlottetown held her victim impact statement in her hands as she read her thoughts on the sexual abuse she suffered as a child because of her half-brother.
“What he did to me as a little girl, I will never forgive him for,” she said.
A publication ban prevents the release of any details that could identify the woman or the other two complainants in a case that saw Justice James Gormley find the accused guilty of five charges, including two counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual assault.
During the trial, the court heard how the complainants (three sisters) and the accused all thought he was their uncle until they later learned he was really their half-brother.
All of the allegations of sexual abuse dated back to when the complainants were children and only came to light after one of the women was hospitalized for a medical condition. The court also heard the accused threatened to hurt the complainants or family members if they told anyone what he was doing.
On Friday, prior to sentencing submissions, the first victim addressed the court and said she couldn’t help but feel she let her sisters down.
“My hope now is that justice can be done,” she said.
The court heard how the woman got a job to get out of the house and how she looked forward to it because she would feel safe.
“My life at these times was hell.”
As the morning proceeded, the accused sat at the defence table looking straight ahead and showing little emotion as he listened to the women’s statements.
Those statements included the first complainant calling him a “predator to our childhood.".
The woman, who maintained her composure throughout most of her statement, broke down sobbing when she returned to the public gallery where she hugged her daughter.
That daughter later read a victim impact statement for one of the other complainants who was not in court.
In her statement, the complainant said that for years she felt what happened was her fault and she was to blame.
Since the abuse, she hasn’t been able to have normal relationships.
“I can’t trust men,” she said.
The woman also talked about her struggles dealing with the abuse, saying she tries to look strong for her family but is a mess.
“I pretend to look like I have it all together.”
The third complainant told the court she tried many times to write down her feelings but didn’t know how to put them into words.
“I feel pain. I can’t write pain,” she said.
For years she tried to make sense of it all, but the child in her didn’t understand, she said.
The woman also said she knows one day the accused’s final judgment will come outside of the courts.
“That I pray,” she said.
After the women finished addressing the court, Crown attorney John Diamond recommended a sentence of six years in prison.
Defence lawyer Brendan Hubley suggested a total sentence of 3.5 to four years would be appropriate.
Gormley adjourned the matter until Nov. 25 for sentencing, saying he needed time to consider all of the submissions.
Once the morning’s proceedings were finished, two of the complainants spoke to the media and expressed frustration with a further delay in seeing the case come to an end.
Both women also said they planned to seek to have the publication ban lifted because they wanted other people to know what the accused had done.
