Trigger Warning: this article deals with sexual assault and may be triggering to some readers.
A young Australian couple is demanding justice after they were sprung upon by an assailant in their hotel room on their trip to Samoa last year.
Angie Jackson was in the shower when she came back into the bedroom to find a Samoan man crouching by the bed. She screamed, which woke her boyfriend Tommy Williams, who sprung into action to defend her. However, the man was carrying a pair of dress scissors, and threatened to kill them unless they complied to his demands. He locked the door so they couldn’t get out.
After taking all their money and valuables, the man said it ‘wasn’t enough’, and he tied both of them up, binding Tommy particularly tightly. While Angie pleaded for their lives, he proceeded to rape her while Tommy was forced to watch. He then apologised to Tommy, saying “I’m sorry brother, please forgive me. I am hungry.”
The hotel manager, Vittoria, then called out to their room because they hadn’t showed up for their cab, and opened the door when she heard their shouts and screams, and the man fled.
The assailant has since been identified as a prison escapee, and put in jail, but he has escaped again twice, and since been recaptured. He will face trial on 27th June 2016.
Since the incident, Angie’s sister has started a GoFundMe page to attract donations to put this man behind bars. Though she only created the page last week, on May 25, they have already raised over $32,000. The money will go towards lawyers, flights to Samoa and time off work so that the couple can make sure justice is served, as well as therapy for them, as they have both been diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Of the incident and fundraising efforts on the GoFundMe page, Angie has said:
“Money certainly won’t erase what happened to us, nor will it speed up our healing. But it will take away any financial pressure we feel over what is going to be very traumatic and stressful time for both Tom and I, as we try to find some justice for the evil that we were dealt. And most importantly, it will put this man behind bars, where he belongs, for a very long time.”
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