NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor
By ALYSSA DANDREA
Monitor staff
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
No one witnessed the repeated sexual abuse of Angie Semertgakis at the hands of her stepfather, beginning when she was just 9 years old.
Semertgakis, now in her 30s, testified Tuesday before the House Committee on Criminal Justice and Public Safety that she lived in “hate, fear, and shame,” and for years was afraid to tell her story. The abuse took place when no one was home and under the darkness of night, she told lawmakers in her plea for them to shoot down a bill that would require more proof in certain sexual assault cases.
When prosecutors filed the sexual assault case against Semertgakis’ abuser decades ago, he had no criminal record. If the case had gone to trial, jurors would have decided the man’s fate based on the girl’s testimony alone. In the end, he took a plea deal.
Existing law in New Hampshire does not require corroboration of a sexual assault. A bill introduced by a Wolfeboro Republican is proposing to change that by requiring corroboration in cases where the defendant has no prior convictions. The bill, however, leaves the definition of corroboration open-ended.
Semertgakis and many other opponents called the bill “dangerous” for New Hampshire.
“This bill is an abolishment to the empowerment of a child who finally breaks free from their offender and finds their voice and courage to talk about their abuse,” she said.
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