The guy who raped me is out: Why wasn't I told?
A GOLD Coast rape survivor fought back tears as she stared down her attacker in a Southport courtroom more than three years ago.
Her voice trembled as she told of the torment of that night in a Burleigh bedroom, and how he hid in a closet after the attack while she screamed.
“I feel like I died that day,” she told the court of the February 2016 rape. “You shushed me. I screamed out and you literally shushed me.”
This month, that same woman says she is feeling blindsided and let down as her rapist, Nathan “Nappa” Teece, was released from prison without her being told.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, says she found out when a friend heard about her rapist’s release and emailed her.
“It’s wild to me that they’ve just gone, ‘okay, we’re gonna release a rapist’,” she says.
“Like, just do it and not notify anybody.”
Teece was sentenced to seven years’ prison. He was eligible for parole on November 2 – and released.
In a Gold Coast coffee shop, the woman told the Bulletin what happened when she got her friend’s email.
“I went into a panic attack. I’ve only ever had them twice. I walked into my office and just completely lost it in front of my boss and supervisor.
“If I had got an email or something, I would have been prepared. It was almost like it was, ‘let’s not tell her’.”
The woman said she was under the impression she would be told if a decision was made to release Teece.
She says she was rebuilding her life and had returned to the Gold Coast after a few years away.
“Of course he gets out now,” she says.
“I feel like I thought I had another couple of years.”
The state government keeps a victim’s information register to ensure victims, survivors and families are told of an attacker’s release. It is an opt-in service, meaning the victim-survivor must sign up in order to receive information.
The Bulletin asked the woman if she had heard of the register: “I’m not sure if that is connected, but I did have – there was like a victim liaison,” she said.
“I thought they were meant to be in contact.”
When the register was explained to her, she said: “I didn’t know about that.”
Victims, survivors and their families are supposed to be made aware of the register so they can opt into the service.
After her initial shock about the rapist’s release, the woman said she felt she was in a “good place”, but “terrified” the same thing would happen to another rape victim.
That is why she wanted to speak up.
She says not finding out her attacker’s release was another chapter in a series of let downs. They started the night she reported the rape to police.
She says police initially took her to Robina Hospital, but then had to be driven to Brisbane because a doctor was not available to perform the forensic examination.
The only doctor available in Brisbane was a male, who bore a resemblance to the rapist, she says.
“There was a lot of stuff I wasn’t told from the beginning. Even the statement I got to give – I found that out for myself.
“No one actually told me I had the opportunity to say something.”
The woman says she was inspired by Chanel Miller, who gave a statement to a US court after she was raped at Stanford by swimmer Brock Turner.
It was then the Gold Coast woman asked if it was possible to give a statement.
“Even if he didn’t go to jail I wanted to do that (make the statement),” she says. “It was a huge part of my healing.
“That was my only retaliation because I never got to do anything else. All I had was my words.”
The woman says she felt like she had not been told about the victim impact statement because people had assumed that as a rape victim she would not want to speak.
The two years between the rape and getting a conviction was a struggle, she says.
“It was basically me being afraid of the world.”
She described how she was waiting in a car with her child while her husband was at the bank and suddenly became overwhelmed with fear.
She hunted through the car, searching for a weapon, and only found a butter knife.
Another time, she got a new job and was at the orientation day and managed to fake it through the morning.
“I was shaking, just drinking all the water, looking at my hands and pretending everything was fine,” she says. “And then going to the bathroom and being terrified someone was going to come in.”
She says she left in the middle of the day and was unable to come back.
Attorney-general Shannon Fentiman said the state government wanted to make sure sexual assault survivors were supported after coming forward.
“The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) has victim liaison officers (VLOS) that ensure victims of violent and sexual offences are informed about the progress of their matters, the court process and victim support services available to them.
“The VLOS also advise victims of the court dates and provide information about the option to provide a Victim Impact Statement.
“With a victim’s consent, police can also refer a victim to Victims Assist Queensland, which provides information to victims about their rights, how to make a victim impact statement, how to access court support and other support services and what financial assistance they may be able to access.
“We are always looking at ways we can improve our courts system to operate in a trauma informed way. That’s why we established the independent Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce to look at how we can better support victims and hold perpetrators to account.”
A spokesman for Corrections Minister Mark Ryan said the government “always put victims of crime first”.
“Support systems for victims are constantly evaluated and wherever opportunities for providing enhanced support for victims are identified, those improvements are implemented.”
If I had got an email or something, I would have been prepared. It was almost like it was, ‘let’s not tell her’.
FINDING out second-hand that the person responsible for the worst thing that has ever happened to you is back on the streets should be completely unacceptable. A Gold Coast woman raped in a Burleigh bedroom in 2016 is living that nightmare now.
Sadly, she is not the first to be blindsided by the unknowing release of her attacker.
The Bulletin is aware of another woman who learnt of her attacker’s release from prison when she literally turned the corner and saw him at the shops.
Stories like these are worryingly common and are reflective of a system buried in bureaucracy. A litany of red tape that puts the responsibility of getting information back on the victim-survivor.
The state government has a large number of services for victims of crime – financial support, counselling, court support and the victims of crime information register.
All of these are opt-in services. Opt-in services that the victim has to know about to take advantage of.
The court process is incredibly confusing and nonsensical for those who do not deal with it every day.
Australia-wide, there is an extreme shortage of education about how the legal system actually works.
When victim-survivors come in contact with the system they are often in an emotional state – nervous about their testimony, emotionally drained from reliving their worst day and often overwhelmed by the court environment.
More forms and providing more information is often the last thing they want to do.
The state government says they make the services “opt-in” to ensure the victim-survivor has control.
But it is hopeless if they are not given the information.
What if they are too stressed, too emotional and too overwhelmed to effectively take in the information?
If services like the victim’s information register are going to be optin there needs to be more done to make sure victim-survivors are aware of its existence.
Things like a follow-up phone call or email after a conviction to run through pertinent information again.
Rape and sexual assault deserve to have control.
But they do not deserve to be blindsided by the release of their attacker.
The state government needs to take steps to ensure this is never the case again. survivors