“What happened was that one girl empowered the next, who empowered the next. It was the beginning of their healing because they felt finally heard and believed, in a safe space, and they got to tell him to his face, eyeball to eyeball: ‘You hurt me. I am not a number, I am a name, how dare you?’”

Rosemarie Aquilina · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-24

Aquilina explains how one victim empowered the next during the sentencing hearings, enabling their healing.