The victim of a daytime public sexual assault in a far north Queensland has spoken for the first time since the attack. A 10-year-old faced multiple charges but has since been released. The Italian National says she's not afraid of speaking out, but now wants to leave town.
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00:00Two days on since her assault, 23-year-old Mayra Cappiello is feeling unsafe in her hometown
00:08of two years.
00:09MAYRA CAPPIELLO, Italian Student And the place that I called until yesterday
00:11home today is my nightmare.
00:13The Italian student was walking in the center of Cairns in broad daylight on Wednesday morning
00:18when she was sexually assaulted by a 10-year-old boy.
00:21MAYRA CAPPIELLO While I was kind of stopping to send a message,
00:24I felt a hand going under my skirt and pinching my bum.
00:31I turned to see who was it, because I really felt it, and it seemed like everyone was doing
00:39their own business, so I couldn't understand what was happening around me.
00:42She wanted the offender to apologize.
00:44MAYRA CAPPIELLO It was like kind of laughing and leaving,
00:47so I got very angry and I chased him.
00:50Ms. Cappiello says more youths got involved and it escalated into a scuffle.
00:53MAYRA CAPPIELLO I wanted to be able to recognize these kids
00:58so that I could report them to police.
01:01Medical documents seen by the ABC show she had a bruised ear, minor injuries to her face,
01:07swelling in her knee and neck pain.
01:09MAYRA CAPPIELLO I thought, oh, maybe I shouldn't have chased
01:11him, but no, I've done the right thing.
01:15As part of the restorative justice process in response to his charges, the boy will have
01:19to meet with his victim to discuss what happened and the effects of his offending.
01:23Ms. Cappiello wants to leave town with her partner but says their visas tie them to Cairns.