'Why did this happen to me?': Young sexual assault victim speaks at man's sentencing
CBC
WARNING: This story contains details of a sexual assault against a child.
A young girl and her parents say their trust is forever broken after she was sexually assaulted by Terrance Soucy, 52, while he was a guest in their home.
"I trusted him so much, and now it's really hard for me to trust people," the victim told the Court of King's Bench in Saint John on Monday, reading her victim impact statement aloud.
"I only feel safe with my family and my best friend," she said.
A jury found Soucy guilty April 1 of sexual assault, sexual touching and invitation to sexual touching.
During his testimony, Soucy, of Apohaqui, a roughly nine-kilometre drive southwest of Sussex, described himself as a karate instructor. Social media posts indicate he was also a baseball coach and that he served on the executive of Sussex Minor Hockey.
A publication ban is in place to protect the identity of the girl, who was under the age of 10 when the incidents occurred.
Clutching a blanket and a teddy bear, she previously testified that Soucy touched her private parts under her clothing on four separate occasions in 2023.
In each instance, she said, she was playing a video game on a computer in her family's living room when Soucy sat down beside her.
"What happened to me made me feel really sad, scared, and confused," the victim said Monday, during Soucy's sentencing hearing.
"I kept asking myself, 'Why did this happen to me?' I felt mad and hurt inside," she said.
"For a long time, I thought what he did was somehow my fault."
She wore big hoodies to try to hide her body, she said.
"I didn't want anyone to look at me. … I didn't want to be seen."
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