The Monster of Mangatiti Page #6

of having to live in that heightened state

was emotionally crippling. Because

I had been afraid of this man all

my life, and I had been, in effect,

hiding from him all my life, and...

and now I'd laid a complaint, so

I had alerted him to me.

So my belief that he or a member of

his family or someone he knew might

come and get me was very very real.

And I had to live with that

every day for four years.

But early in 2012 I received the news that

he had been deemed unfit to stand trial

because of a diagnosis of mild dementia

and that he was going to walk free.

And that was devastating news, and at

that stage he still had name suppression,

and I just couldn't live with that.

So I went to the media.

Cornelius was first

charged at the end of 2009.

The final hearing was in...

was on June 15 2012.

Oi, Bill!

He was formally dismissed from court, and then

they addressed the name-suppression issue.

So my name suppression was lifted,

and then he lost his name suppression.

No regrets about unmasking yourself?

No, not at all. I made that firm

decision to not be living in fear

and hiding any more,

because there is no need.

Um, so it's quite liberating.

I felt strong because I wasn't

that 19-year-old captive any more.

Um, I was a grown woman, and I was

speaking out about what he'd done,

and I was holding him accountable.

It's not an easy thing to do -

it's a terrifying thing to do.

Standing up to... to your offender

and taking the power back

and holding them accountable in whatever way

is possible, um, is... is really important.

Um, it certainly helps you...

move forward

as a survivor.

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