Man gets prison time for 2015 sexual assault
A sexual assault victim recalled her “haunting” experience in 2015 when she became sick at a party and a man raped her.
“At the hospital, I could see the bruises where he held me down,” the victim recalled as Justin Gould, 28, of Butler stood in the courtroom awaiting his sentencing. Gould pleaded guilty in July 2018 to felony aggravated indecent assault by forcible compulsion.
After the incident, the victim said, “Everyone looked at me like I was a whore ... But today is the day I get closure. I am a survivor.”
“I know an apology is not acceptable but I am truly sorry,” Gould said in court Thursday. Judge William Shaffer sentenced Gould to 22 to 44 months in state prison. He will also be on probation for 76 months after his prison sentence and must pay a $750 fine.
The victim described having something of a “Scarlet Letter” on herself because of the sexual assault, but it is Gould who will be marked for the rest of his life as a registered sex offender.
Read more about this story in Monday's Butler Eagle.
