Sun, 06 Dec 2009 1:31p.m.
The teenage girl indecently assaulted by a prominent entertainer is upset that he cannot be named.
The entertainer, who pleaded guilty to performing an indecent act with intent to insult during an early morning incident in Wellington in March, was discharged without conviction and granted permanent name suppression when sentenced last month.
The victim, Brittany Cancian, who was 16 at the time, has spoken out about the 3.30am incident, saying the case in Auckland District Court case had failed to give her closure.
"I still think about it every day," she told the latest issue of the New Zealand Woman's Weekly.
"I'm angry that he got name suppression. I think if he was a normal person it would be different. I want people to know his name and I feel like the court has taken his side."
Brittany, now 17, said she had been subjected to cruel and untrue stories about her reputation since the court case.
She was with a group of schoolmates in a central city park, when two of her girlfriends noticed the entertainer, went to ask for a kiss and were lead to an alley way.
"I never like his music, which is one reason I didn't go with them," she said.
But she was curious about what was happening and went to the alley, where he saw the entertainer naked from the waist down.
It was then that the offence occurred, with the man forcing her head to his crotch before she managed to get away.
While the two other girls "didn't think it was that serious", Brittany said she was filled with revulsion.
Her parents and boyfriend backed her move to report the incident to police, who discovered there was security footage of what happened from a nearby shop.
"Afterwards, the police rang me and said that the musician was offering $200 to go towards a charity," she said.
"They suggested I should `have some compassion'. My dad went berserk about that."
During the court proceedings, the entertainer agreed to pay $5000 in emotional harm reparations, which Brittany said she hadn't yet received.
At sentencing, Judge Eddie Paul said both a conviction and allowing the man to be identified would have detrimental consequences to his career that would be out of all proportion to the gravity of the offending, which the judge rated as moderate to low.
The case renewed debate over name suppression for public figures, with even Prime Minister John Key remarking that he had been told the entertainer's identity.
NZPA