Ethan Walker, now 19, left his victim ‘suffering with nightmares that wake me multiple times in the night’
A 15-year-old boy raped a teenage girl who woke up to find her attacker having sexual intercourse with her. She said the abuse led to her suffering depression and anxiety and she made an attempt to take her own life .
Ethan Walker, now 19, raped his victim when she awoke to find her pyjama bottoms had been pulled down. The victim later contacted the police and the defendant faced trial, with the jury convicting him of one count of rape.
A sentencing hearing at Newport Crown Court on Friday heard the victim read her statement, in which she stated her life had been turned upside down as a result of the rape. For the latest court reports sign up to our crime newsletter.
She said: “I have been greatly suffering as a result of the actions of Ethan and what he’s put me through. I have become disengaged, disassociated and emotionally shut down which causes me to zone out.
“I can’t focus on sounds and sights and feel anxious. I have flashbacks of the events that took place. It can happen at any time…
“I feel overwhelmed, I feel ashamed and emotionally drained. The main flashback puts me in the worst moments of what Ethan did and I see it from a third person perspective of a shoulder view. It will play on my mind for hours and this is when I disassociate the most.
“I still feel like I am reliving it all. I have been suffering with nightmares that wake me multiple times in the night, similar to the flashbacks but more vivid and I can feel him touching me. I wake up feeling anxious and dirty, like my skin is crawling.
“I have been referred to the community and mental health team as I’m possibly suffering from PTSD as a result of the abuse.”
The victim said she had been suffering with trauma, brain fog, and struggling with her body image following the rape.
She added: “I became introverted, I was once bubbly but I became depressed and lost passion for my hobbies…
“I relive this trauma every day and I can’t see a way past what he did to me. I tried to commit suicide by overdose…
“What Ethan has done to me has severely affected my future relationships, I can’t trust men now. I cannot engage in any form of intimate activity.”
In mitigation, Walker, of High Street, Ynysddu, Caerphilly, was said to be a “well mannered and polite young man” who was well thought of in the community.
Defence barrister Paul Hewitt also referred to the defendant’s age at the time of the offence.
Sentencing, Judge Daniel Williams said the defendant had shown “hubris” and a “contemptuous attitude” towards his victim, who the judge said had “suffered greatly”.
He said the court would pass a sentence that would have been passed had the defendant been sentenced at the time of the offence.
Walker was sentenced to two years detention in a young offenders institute, suspended for two years.
He was ordered to carry out 150 hours unpaid work, made subject to an electronic curfew for eight months, made subject to sex offender notification requirements for 10 years and a restraining order for eight years.