Anthony Gough rape victim enveloped in 'dark cloud of fear,' mother says

The mother of a teenage rape victim is speaking out about the toll the case has taken on her daughter and their family.

The identity of both the woman and her daughter are protected by a publication ban.

The woman called CBC News after the girl's attacker, 49-year-old Anthony Leo Gough, was sentenced to five years in prison.

Gough was the executive director of the Social Opportunities and Rec Society of Nova Scotia (SOARS). The society offers programs for people with mental or physical disabilities.

The girl was enrolled in a March Break camp this spring run by SOARS. Gough sexually assaulted the girl on the bus ride home.

"When my little girl came home that day and I went in to hang up her mitts and I saw the blood and her crying, you can't imagine," the mother told CBC.

"You cannot imagine. I was in shock."

The mother said as soon as she settled her daughter, she called 911. "That was the start of one of the longest nights of my life," she said.

She said that night was just the beginning.

"It was beyond awful. It came right out of left field," she said.

"Neither one of us have slept in six months, all night."

'He showed no remorse'

Gough pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to one of the three charges he faced and was sentenced last Tuesday. When Judge Timothy Gabriel asked Gough before sentencing if he had anything to say for himself, he declined.

"The fact he didn't say anything when he was given the opportunity at the sentencing hearing spoke volumes," the mother said.

"He showed no remorse. I believe he couldn't actually say I'm sorry. I don't believe he is sorry.And I think if he had said that, it just would have been he was sorry he got caught."

Judge Gabriel described the attack as "opportunistic and predatory behaviour."

"You stole a portion of her life that she will never get back," Gabriel said.

A 'dark cloud of fear'

The mother said the last six months have been difficult.

"Stressful Medical appointments, counselling appointments.Fear.There's been this dark cloud of fear that's been enveloping us."

The mother says her daughter won't sit on their front step by herself. She also won't go to the neighbourhood playground.

"She still has nightmares. I have nightmares," she said.

"I wasn't there but I think of the fear and the terror she must have felt.And I wish I could have been there to rescue her."

The mother said she met Gough before enrolling her daughter in the March Break camp. She said she had no idea what he was capable of.

"Sexual predators what do they look like?" she asked."They're very good at hiding their habits. I am sure he was planning this for months."

The mother said when Gough's case comes up for a parole hearing, she'll be there.

"I'm going to fight with everything I've got to make sure he doesn't get out one day before his sentence is over," she said.