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“I NEVER thought something like this could happen to me ... every day you make me question who I am and what I’m worth.”
Those were the words of Darren Harvey’s victim, the 18-year-old woman who says the indecent assault at the hands of her former employer “destroyed me”.
Harvey sat motionless, staring straight ahead, while her victim impact statement was read out.
She, in turn, sat on the other side of the courtroom, hunched down and flanked by her mother and a Victoria Police officer.
“You have made me more physically and mentally scared then (sic) I ever thought would be possible,” her statement read.
“I don’t let anybody touch me. I don’t like hugs ... I find it harder to trust anybody and everybody.”
That day in October, the day of the assault, weighed on her, especially while trying to finish year 12 at the end of the year, when “trying to study, what you did rushed into my head and I could never concentrate” and losing countless nights sleep.
She was out of work for four months after leaving the fun park, unable to contribute to the family, her mother already struggling financially.
Then there was her now ex-boyfriend; the relationship failed, she said, because she “couldn’t even make love ... wouldn’t let him even kiss me. The thought of it made me sick”.
“The difference in this relationship is CONSENT,” her statement read, “I didn’t consent to anything you did; you just took what you wanted.”
Now, in her new job, “there are men that remind me of you, wanting things they can’t and shouldn’t have”, and some days she is scared that one will turn on her and “take something” from her.
But, she vowed, “I will never let something like this happen again”.
Magistrate John Murphy told the girl she had shown “remarkable strength” to appear in court.
“You have shown courage, you should be proud of yourself to do what you’ve done,” he said.
“That strength will see you through life.”