A young woman who was sexually assaulted by her partner after they met in high school lashed out at him for his two years of abuse, his constant belittling of her and his killing of her cat before he was sent to state prison for eight years.
The woman read a victim impact statement to 20-year-old Joshua Lopez of New Rochelle at his sentencing July 17. She detailed their relationship and how she remains haunted by the physical and emotional pain he caused her, but that she’s energized by surviving it and focused on being strong for her young son.
“The trauma you have created in my life isn’t something that just goes away after those moments are over,” she said. “It lingers, and it has shaped every part of me in ways I still don’t fully understand.
“You didn’t just hurt me, you took my sense of safety, my ability to trust, my innocence and my piece of mind.”
She said the abuse included punching, biting, choking, being hit with a liquor bottle and cane, and Lopez telling her she was worthless. She endured the abuse for a time because she didn’t want to get him in trouble, hoping she could fix the situation on her own.
Victim: Joshua Lopez even killed Casper the cat
At one point she got a kitten, Casper, who helped her feel “less alone in the pain you were causing me.” Lopez knew how much Casper was a comfort to her, but still killed the cat, she said.
“In a way, his death symbolized the death of any little hope I had in you and any happiness I had in me,” she said. “A part of me died with him too.”
The woman said Lopez tried to convince her she was worthless and easy to manipulate, but that he was wrong.
“I am not who you said I was,” she said. “I am not a punching bag. I am so much more than what you treated me like. I am stronger now. I have an actual bright future now.”
She urged Lopez to remember how kind she was to him. And despite all the grief he had caused, she said she hoped he can resolve his trauma and overcome his problems.
“I hope you find good in yourself one day,” she said. “That is solely up to you.”
Lopez declined to speak when state Supreme Court Justice James McCarty gave him the opprtunity
The sentence imposed had been promised when Lopez pleaded guilty earlier this year to first-degree attempted criminal sex act for an incident in May 2024. In addition to the prison term, he will face 15 years of post-release supervision and must register as a sex offender.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: New Rochelle man gets 8 years prison for sexual assault of former partner
Reporting by Jonathan Bandler, Rockland/Westchester Journal News / Rockland/Westchester Journal News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
