Assault victim describes aftermath
Girl says being sexually assaulted has changed her life
She wasn’t in the courtroom to read her victim impact statement, but the pain she felt after being sexually assaulted by a man more than twice her age came through in her written words.
“Some days I’m fine. Some days I feel worthless,” the teenager wrote.
The statement was read in Newfoundland Supreme Court in St. John’s Thursday by Crown prosecutor Sheldon Steeves to begin the sentencing hearing for Bradley Giovannini.
Giovannini, 34, was found guilty earlier this month of sexual assault, child luring via a computer and sexual interference.
It happened in June 2012, when Giovannini sent the girl — who was 14 years old at the time — several texts and Internet messages, enticing her to come to his place. Once she was there, Giovannini gave her beer, began touching her and then forced her to have sex, despite her asking him to stop.
The girl said she was so devastated after the incident, she fell behind in school and didn’t graduate with her friends.
“My emotions are all over the place — crying, sad and depressed,” the girl said, adding she has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression, for which she has been hospitalized several times. “I’m not able to open up to friends or family.”
The girl said she is scared to walk in the dark and hopes she will never have contact with Giovannini again.
Steeves said Giovannini deserves to go to jail for five to six years. He also suggested that his name be listed on the National Sex Offenders registry for life and that he have restrictions regarding the use of the Internet and other communication devices.
“He was a predator,” Steeves said. “He preyed upon a young person.”
Defence lawyer Barbara Baker suggested a prison sentence of 4 1/2 years.
Giovannini began the trial representing himself as a result of several issues he had with various lawyers.
However, a day into the trial, he admitted to the judge he was in over his head.
As a result, Barker represented Giovannini for the remainder of the trial. St. John’s defence lawyer Nick Westera was appointed amicus (impartial mediator), while Legal Aid lawyer Tony St. George stayed on to conduct independent cross-examination of the complainant.
Giovannini, who had been out on bail, was taken into custody following the verdict.
Justice Robert Hall will render his decision on sentencing Oct. 3.