The victim of a man who was convicted of attempting to rape her when she was nine years old says he destroyed her sense of self-worth.
That woman made the statement on a video played in provincial court in Charlottetown Monday during the sentencing of Leonard Green.
Green, 67, appeared before Judge John Douglas who found him guilty in October of attempted rape and indecent assault dating back to the 1970s.
Douglas will deliver the sentence on Wednesday.
As she read her victim impact statement on the video, the woman said she was in elementary school when Green committed the offences.
She also said every child deserves a childhood.
“Why did he have to kill my innocence?”
During the trial, the victim detailed several incidents of sexual abuse involving Green, including attempted rapes.
On the video played in court more than 45 years after the abuse, the woman said she had to work through panic attacks and fear.
“You learn to live with it, but it can’t be undone.”
As she talked about her struggles over the years, the victim said the course of her life would have been different if Green hadn’t abused her.
She said Green taught her she was there for people to use however they want.
“He taught me that I didn’t matter.”
The victim also told the court she didn’t report Green to the police out of vengeance. She said she thought he needed to be stopped.
In her submissions, Crown attorney Lisa Goulden said the case was similar to that of Philip Whittaker who was sentenced in November to 15 months in jail for sex offences dating back to the 1990s.
Both were dated sexual assaults with offenders who had positive pre-sentence reports.
Green was initially supposed to be sentenced in January, but it did not proceed because he lives in Calgary and wasn’t able to travel at that time because of health problems.
Defence lawyer Thane MacEachern told the court Green has blockages in all his arteries, arrhythmia and diabetes.
MacEachern asked the court to consider a conditional sentence, which he said would be consistent with the principles of sentencing.
Goulden responded that if the offences had been recent she would have sought a sentence in the four- to five-year range.
Douglas adjourned the matter until Wednesday.
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