A man who was sexually assaulted as a child by former Collingwood cheer squad member Jeffrey "Joffa" Corfe has confronted his perpetrator in court, telling him he had been left feeling like he had a "dirty, embarrassing, shameful secret" he had to keep.
Corfe had pleaded guilty to one charge of sexually abusing a child under the age of 16 at an earlier hearing last year after he told he was unlikely to go to jail for the crime.
The court previously indicated that Corfe is likely to receive a 12-month sentence which would be suspended for two years.
Today, the court was told Corfe sexually abused the victim at Corfe's then-home in Coburg, when the victim was 14 years old and Corfe was 44.
The victim chose to stand in the witness box at a courtroom in the County Court of Victoria and directly address Corfe as he read out a statement about how the assault has impacted on his life.
The man, who cannot be named, said he blamed himself for 15 years after the sexual assault, suffering from low self-esteem, anxiety and depression for years.
"What you did to me that day in 2005 planted something so toxic in my mind that I was convinced I was a bad person and didn't deserve anything good," he told the court.
"I did not deserve to spend those years hating myself," he said.
The victim said while he tried to continue on with his life, the sexual assault "infected every aspect of my life".
In a clear voice, he described the mental health struggles he experienced for years and the ways in which that impacted on his career and relationships.
He told Corfe that while he may have been able to forgive him for the assault, he couldn't forgive him for dragging out the legal process by not pleading guilty earlier.
"Having to give evidence when you knew you were guilty was extremely traumatising," he told Corfe.
Corfe had his eyes closed for much of the hearing, but watched on as the victim spoke.
Judge Gerard Mullaly told the court he had intended to deliver a sentence today, but said he needed more time to consider the victim's statement and medical records for Corfe.
Judge Mullaly said defence had made submissions about Corfe's health — including a history of cardiac failure, which would need to be considered.
He also said a number of Corfe's family members and former colleagues from the Salvation Army and Epilepsy Foundation had provided testimonials for Corfe and a psychologist's report deemed him a "low risk" of offending again.
Defence barrister Christopher Terry also told the court that Corfe had experienced a traumatic childhood and early adulthood, which were submitted for the judge to consider.
A sentence hearing was scheduled for next Monday, which Corfe was granted permission to attend remotely from his home in Queensland.
