Sexual assault victim vows to 'fight tooth and nail' to prevent attacker from profiting from her pain
Sofyan Boalag is suing the federal government for compensation after he was stabbed repeatedly in prison
A woman who was brutally attacked and raped by Sofyan Boalag when she was 15 years old says he deserves no compensation after he was violently attacked at a federal prison.
"I'll fight tooth and nail. Whether it's a civil lawsuit against him myself, or whatever I have to do, but I refuse to let him see one cent," said the 28-year-old St. John's woman who can't be identified because of a court-ordered publication ban.
"I'm not letting him profit off the pain that he caused me and other women."
In 2016, Boalag was convicted of three counts of sexual assault with a weapon committed against three different victims, two counts of robbery, one count of possession of a prohibited weapon, one count of overcoming resistance to the commission of an offence by attempting to choke the victim, and one count of resisting arrest.
In 2017, the court also declared him a dangerous offender and handed him an indeterminate sentence.
Boalag appealed the latter decision all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which rejected his request in 2021.
Yes, he may never walk again, but he's back to safety in a different prison... If anything, I'd like to shake the hand of whoever did it to him.'- Sofyan Boalag's victim
In a lawsuit filed in January, Boalag claims that on Feb. 3, 2023, staff at a federal prison in Renous, N.B., opened the doors to all cells in one corridor simultaneously so inmates could line up for medication.
Boalag says he was attacked from behind and stabbed repeatedly. He says his injuries mean he'll never walk again.
His lawsuit alleges prison staff failed to prevent weapons from entering the facility, failed to search inmates before allowing them to line up, and ignored internal policy by letting multiple inmates out of their cells at the same time.
Who is the victim?
The 28-year-old woman says she refuses to allow Boalag to be portrayed as a victim.
"He's not a victim because he got hurt in prison. He put himself in prison. He put himself in that position to have that happen to him. He raped multiple women," she said. "I don't like when he's in the spotlight. I want the victims to be heard. I want everyone to remember who he is and what he did."
The victim says she is able to talk about what happened to her without being re-traumatized.
"In 2012, I was walking my dog on Lemarchant Road before work, and somebody came up behind me. I just had like a chill up my spine kind of feeling and so I just went to the side to let them pass and he grabbed me and threatened my life and then sexually assaulted me down an alley behind a house," she said.
She says she is still recovering from the attack.
"It has taken me years to get to where I am comfortable with myself again. For years I used to scrub my body with scalding hot water until it was red because I felt dirty, like I had something to be ashamed of, when it wasn't my guilt I was carrying, it was his," she said. "Because he's the one that did this, not me."
But still she believes Boalag, who has been moved from the Atlantic Institution in New Brunswick to another federal facility in Ontario, has irreparably harmed her.
"I have emotional wounds that will never heal. Yes, he may never walk again, but I can't walk the streets again without looking over my shoulder. I don't walk anywhere alone anymore, not since I was 15. Some of those wounds will never heal," she said.
"Yes, he may never walk again, but he's back to safety in a different prison, and now he wants to try and monopolize off that. If anything, I'd like to shake the hand of whoever did it to him," she said.
WATCH | Now 28, this woman says she wants Sofyan Boalag's crimes to be remembered:
She says Boalag has shown no remorse for what he's done and she promises to do everything she can to keep him in prison.
"It's been twelve and a half years and he still does not take any accountability. I sit in on every parole hearing, I do a victim impact statement at every parole hearing. To this day, he sees nothing wrong with what he did to a 15-year-old child and other women," she said.
The federal government's Public Safety Canada website says "an offender serving an indeterminate sentence is eligible for full parole seven years from the date they were taken into custody. Eligibility does not mean automatic release. Full parole must be granted by the Parole Board of Canada."
For anyone who has been sexually assaulted, there is support available through crisis lines and local support services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you're in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
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