Victim impact statement

Vermont Superior Court Bennington Unit Fi'e“: 11/7/2023 124-1-19 Bncr Good Morning stand here Bewildered and Perplexed. have been living this nightmare which Mr. Fink caused, for over years now, of which were acknowledged by the state of Vermont. Why did this take so long, one can only guess. From our lst meeting, Mr. Fink systematically eliminated my ability to represent my son and my granddaughter. Under the guise of our Savior, he made sure every door was closed to us until the only one left open was the one that forced me to have Sex with him against my will to save my family. Interesting, he recused himself from representing my son. On June 6, 2017, his motion was heard in Superior Court before my son's Child Support Hearing. After his motion, Mr. Fink did not leave the court. He stayed until the end watching my son represent himself. As we were leaving, Mr. Fink asked John and Ito step into the courts back room. He turned to me and said ”look can’t represent John. John should be able to successfully represent himself with out the need of another attorney. And he would guide us through the court system to save us money and to help us succeed in court Does this sound right to anyone here in this court. Following his instructions, everything he had us do ended in failure. According to the court, we did not file this or that right, which ended in motion denied, denied, denied. All this led to the meeting of July 17, 2017. Originally our meeting was supposed to be at Mr. Fink's office. He called me and said let me make it easy for you, you don't have to drive to my office, I can meet you at your home. He asked for my address and we would have our meeting there. I had 8 files from Mr. Fink on my table at home all to be addressed by him for court, in order to help my son get custody of his daughter. Suddenly out of nowhere I found Mr. Fink standing in my house unannounced. Told me the door was open, which it was not. Who walks through an unlocked door into a person’s home, without knocking, using a doorbell or speaking out, what was he really up to. I immediately walked over to the files and started taking notes on what he told me to do. After going through the last of the 8 files, this Narcistic predator grabbed me put me in a head lock, forced his tongue down my throat and proceeded to assault me from behind with his other hand. As I stood there horrified, I thought am I going to be forced to do this, is this the only way I could get my son's daughter back ?. Am I going to have to satisfy his self-centered needs to save my family? Suddenly a wave, I am not going to let him abuse me this way or anyone else. hit me. I finally got free of his strangle hold. While still holding tightly to my hands, he made every effort to threaten me into believing that if I did not succumb to what he wanted, I would pay for it one way or another. Surprise, Surprise from that moment on he made our lives miserable. Another attempt from Mr. Fink was an email he sent to me one month after I declined him “pleasuring me sexually for 5 hours. He sent me a confidential Court custody case that involved an event the same as mine. Mr. Fink represented the defendant. It showed that his client won. To entice me that I could win for my son and granddaughter. As I look back on this, I did not see any of this coming. I always thought there was a trust between a lawyer and who he was helping. That was my 1st mistake. My Second was believing that what happened to me was a 1st for Mr. Fink. He was too calculated, too controlling, too aggressive, very narcistic, he was way too comfortable with his approach, as if he had done it before. I can only wonder and hope, Thinking because we are here today, that this will never happen again. I would like to shine the light on the potential for repeat behavior of Mr. Fink. What is the court’s plan? Is trial your answer. If he is found guilty of a offence will he be linked to Diversion?I believe diversion is the right answer. I don't want to drag my family through the trial after the traumatic life they have lived the last 6 years. I am the victim and I should have a say in this. I was the one who was assaulted. Diversion is addressing his wrong doing and I will be there to address him, the impact to my family and for the well being of future victims, prevent this from happening again. As I stand before this court and scoff at his lawyer's contrived apology, I ask you Where is the Justice? Where is the justice for Mr. Fink’s wife, who on the day of the assualt I tried to escape his hold on me, I asked, are you married, he said yes, but that does not matter. Where is the Justice for my Son, my Granddaughter and for ME? For my Son, To see what he was going through to try and stay In his daughters life, broke my heart for him to be separated from his daughter and now it has been catastrophic for my family all because of Mr, Fink. My Granddaughter who lost touch with her dad. Who had no understanding why. Justice For Me. To live with outrage over the theft of my ability to protect my family. It was stolen from me by Mr. Fink. I will ask you again. Where is the Justice for my Son, my Granddaughter and for ME! Why should my family be exposed to trial trauma. We deserve closure TODAY. There has been no accountability until today. Year after year I was reminded about this case because it was pending - it was torture for so long. Our lives were affected by this, his life was not affected - he was still practicing law and we lost everything. I want this public accountability piece to give closure to myself so I can move forward and so that the public knows what he did. I do not want to go through the trial process. I agree with the diversion resolution. If he is not sincere in his remorse and if he does not successfully complete diversion, I will be ready to come back here for a trial on a felony. Thank you, YOUR HONOR