Brett David Hill (pictured) was sentenced to 23 years in prison this week for raping a girl in June last year
A teenage girl who bravely confronted the man who kidnapped and raped her on her way to school when she was just 11 has told her attacker she still sees his face wherever she goes.
The full victim impact statement written by the now 13-year-old, which she read to her rapist as he was sentenced to a maximum 23 years in prison last Tuesday can now be revealed for the first time.
The girl describes how the five-hour ordeal she suffered at the hands of Brett David Hill had ruined her carefree childhood, left her in permanent fear of strangers and made her consider taking her own life.
The courageous teen read the statement to Hill – a father of three – from the witness box at Newcastle District Court with her mother and pet dog by her side.
The girl was on her way to school when she was abducted by Hill, who was wielding a pair of scissors. He took her to three separate locations, and indecently and sexually assaulted her over a period of nearly five hours
‘It is important that you hear what I have to say to you,’ the girl began as she faced the prisoner. ‘I have been waiting for this day to tell you how I feel and how you have affected my life.’
‘This is what I want to say to you.
It is important that you hear what I have to say to you
‘It is important that you hear what I have to say to you. You have had a huge impact on me and my whole family and on my whole life.
‘Today, tomorrow and years ahead, I will be scarred and never cured. I may look strong and brave on the outside but on the inside I’m breaking down.
‘I feel like I’m on a rollercoaster, going up and falling back down.’
The girl told Hill she had been a happy child who loved life and was scared of nothing before he violated her.
Hill had snatched the girl as she walked to school in Adamstown Heights, Newcastle, in June 2018 and repeatedly raped her. She gave Hill a false name and told him she was ten; Hill later told a psychiatrist he estimated she was 11 or 12.
‘Before all this happened, I was carefree, happy, excited,’ the girl told her attacker. ‘I used to think I was pretty and be a confident person. I was scared of nothing.
‘My life was so happy back then. I used to walk around town with a big smile. I loved my life and my world was safe. I had nothing to worry about.’
The girl told Hill she was now so fearful she was scared to even walk her dog.
She suffers constant flashbacks – reliving the day when she was frozen, numb and helpless and wanted to die as Hill raped her at three separate locations. She had been tied to a tree during one attack.
The victim was abducted from Hudson Park in Adamstown Heights and attacked for five hours, before Hill eventually dumped her at Kotara Railway Station
Hill was arrested by police on Beaumont St, Hamilton, four days after the horrific attack on the young girl
‘That day started with me going to school like I did every other morning,’ she told her rapist. ‘I was excited to see my friends. You kidnapped and raped me. My life as I knew it is forever changed.
‘Every night I lie awake and look around my room. I can’t sleep and my body will be shaking.
‘I see your face everywhere in places that should be safe, like when I play sport, in class, at home. I get so distressed and upset. I feel like my life is threatened over and over again.
Every night I lie awake and look around my room. I can’t sleep and my body will be shaking.
‘I have had suicidal thoughts because I want the pain to stop and to be in control of my thoughts and my feelings. I will deal with this for the rest of my life.’
Judge Roy Ellis said Hill’s criminality was extreme and the offender had shown no sympathy, empathy or compassion for the girl during the prolonged attacks.
Hill was armed with a pair of scissors when he abducted the girl as she walked through Hudson Park about 9.15am on June 12, 2018.
He spent the next five hours sexually and indecently assaulting the girl before releasing her at Kotara railway station about 2.15pm.
During the rapes the girl had asked Hill: ‘Can I please go to school?’ and ‘Are we done yet?’ He replied: ‘No, we’re not done yet.’
Judge Ellis, who sentenced Hill to a minimum 17 years, said 11-year-old girls were entitled to walk safely to school without being attacked.
The platform at Kotara train station where the young girl was dumped about 2.15pm on June 12, 2018 after being attacked for five hours
The brave little girl confronted her attacker inside Newcastle District Court (pictured) to read her victim impact statement, before Hill was sentenced to a maximum 23 years behind bars
In sentencing submissions Crown prosecutor Lee Carr SC said it was inconceivable to think of the fear the girl must have felt.
‘This young girl is simply treated by this man as a sexual toy,’ Mr Carr said.
The attacker at times had told his terrified victim, ‘I have a knife, I’ll kill you’, ‘Be quiet or I’ll punch you really hard’, and ‘Shut up or I’ll suffocate you’.
Hill had pleaded guilty to seven counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 16, one count of aggravated kidnapping and possessing child abuse material.
On Tuesday the 49-year-old addressed the girl directly in court.
‘I’m so sorry,’ the rapist said as he was being sentenced. ‘I never set out in this day to be a horrible person. I did something I thought I’d never do. I hope one day you can move on from this.’
The girl is a long way from moving on with her life.
As Hill was led from the courtroom, the girl’s father yelled: ‘I hope you burn in hell’
‘I hate who I am today and the fact this happened to me,’ she told the predator. ‘I questioned ‘why me’. But there is no reason or answer or excuse for what you did to me.
‘I was frozen, frightened, terrified, powerless and helpless. I couldn’t fight back. I feared for my life and my survival.
‘I didn’t want to survive at the time, I just wanted my life and for what you were doing to be over.’
‘You don’t realise how much pressure is on me every time I just walk by any person or stranger. I feel unsafe and petrified. I’m scared someone is going to take me and do it all over again.’
The girl said when she got older there would be time when she might have a boyfriend but she would struggle to trust anyone. To cope with the horrific crimes committed against her she snuggled and talked to her dog.
‘I have come a long way from when this first happened and I have achieved and survived a lot,’ she told Hill.
‘But, I often feel like a damaged girl. I have noticed it gets harder and harder as I get older because I understand more. You violated me on that long day but it it has impacted the rest of my life.
‘You took away my safety and my life as I knew it. But I survived and I am holding you accountable.
‘You will have to live with what you did to me. I can never forgive you.’
As Hill was led away from court the girl’s father yelled at him: ‘I hope you burn in hell, you scum.’