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AAP
National
Emily Woods

Victim confronts AFL superfan over 'toxic' sex abuse

A man who was abused as a boy by Jeffrey Corfe (centre) has faced him in court. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS) (AAP)

Collingwood AFL superfan Jeffrey 'Joffa' Corfe's victim has stared him down in court as he described the "dirty" and "toxic" trauma he continues to suffer from the child sexual abuse.

Corfe, 62, who remains on bail, last year admitted sexually abusing the boy when he was aged 14 at Corfe's home in Melbourne's north.

The former Collingwood cheer squad leader faced the County Court on Tuesday for a pre-sentence hearing, where prosecutors outlined how Corfe met the boy on MSN Messenger back in 2004.

Corfe, who was 40 at the time, communicated with the boy for a few months on MSN and email under the name David Coburg.

He claimed to be least 10 years younger, "6ft, slim, brown hair, straight acting" and tried to get the boy to go to his house.

"Hey sexy, you can SMS my mobile, or my MSN Messenger, it's cool. Anytime you want to meet let me know and we'll plan it in advance," he said in one message, which was read to the court.

The boy went to meet Corfe at his house in February 2005, where Corfe sexually abused him inside a dark bedroom.

After he left, the boy was upset that Corfe did not match his description and was much older than he had told him.

The victim disclosed the abuse to his partner in 2018 and then discovered old email chains with Corfe. He reported the abuse to police in 2020.

When he was interviewed by police in 2021, Corfe admitted using the MSN Messenger and Gay.com to meet men and said he would arrange "on-off encounters" with them at his home.

However, he denied having sex with the underage boy and said he "didn't remember" the emails he sent to him.

The victim took to the witness stand on Tuesday, where he looked Corfe in the eyes and described how the trauma he suffered from the abuse was continuing to affect him.

"From the day you assaulted me to the day I discovered the emails, I felt like I had this dirty, embarrassing, shameful secret that I was terrified about anyone finding out about," he said.

He said he tried to suppress memories of the abuse, but it "still managed to infect pretty much every aspect" of his life.

"What you did to me on that one day in 2005 planted something so toxic in my mind that for 15 years I was convinced I was a bad person. Sometimes I feel like I'm mourning the 15 years that I lost," he said.

The man said he had been "extremely traumatised" by being forced to give two hours of evidence in a committal hearing and then the dragged out the legal proceedings until Corfe finally pleaded guilty in November.

Corfe will be sentenced by Judge Gerard Mullaly on Monday.

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