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Australian woman raped by serial Samoan offender speaks out about her ordeal.

 

The Samoan man who brutally attacked a holidaying Tasmanian couple as pleaded guilty to all charges, including rape.

It was the final day of their holiday when Angie Jackson woke early to find an intruder crouched in the lounge area of their hotel room.

Wielding a pair of scissors the man bound, gagged and sexually assaulted her while her boyfriend of four years, Tommy Williams, was forced to watch on helplessly.

“Society tells us that it’s a man’s job to look after his partner. And when that doesn’t happen it’s really… It’s shattered him,” Angie told 60 Minutes.

“We’re just doing our best to change our perception from we should have done something to we did the best we could. It’s hard.”

Angie Jackson and Tommy Williams. Source: GoFundMe

It has since emerged the attacker was well-known serial felon Lautiiti Tualima, who had been on the run from prison for a month when he climbed up to their room at the Lupe Sina Tree Resort.

Tualima had escaped from Samoa's highest security prison, Tafaigata, where he had been serving time for rape, robbery and violence, according to the Daily Mail.

Jackon said poor security in the prison was putting locals and tourists at risk.

"The best thing that we can hope for is that the prison conditions are improved, the security is improved, so that when he is put away for the rest of his life, he stays there," Angie said.

"If we heard about not just another Australian or any other tourist having to go through something similar or worth I just wouldn't forgive myself. Noone deserves to go through this."

Lautiiti Tualima. Source: 60 Minutes

Both Angie and Tommy now suffer from PTSD.

"I have a more heightened sense of the are bad people in the world. I guess I was a little bit naive beforehand," she said.

"You always think it's never going to happen to you. It always happens to somebody else."

Aside from shining a spotlight on Samoa's flawed prison system, the couple want to let other victims of sexual violence know things do get easier with time.

"Probably the most important [thing] for me is to show other women who are victims of sexual assault or sexual violence that it's okay to hate yourself. It's okay to withdraw from intimacy. It's okay to feel like it was your fault, but one day you will be strong, you will be brave and you will get past it and it's not something that's going to define you."

Tualima will be sentenced on July 22.

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Top Comments

Kimbo 8 years ago

I watched the interview with Angie & Tommy, such a horrifying ordeal, I am so sorry they went through this.


Guest21 8 years ago

I'm really sorry. Hope you both receive the counselling and support you need.