"I can never forgive you." Yesterday, a 13-year-old girl bravely faced her attacker in court.

Content warning: The following contains details of child sexual assault. If you are in need of support, help is available via 1800 RESPECT. Please call 1800 737 732.

The 13-year-old girl, who hasn’t been named, bravely stood in the witness box flanked by her family dog and her mum.

She told the court how last year she was a carefree girl, who was afraid of nothing. Now she’s too scared to walk her dog.

She can’t sleep at night and she gets constant flashbacks that leave her feeling numb, frozen and helpless. She sees his face everywhere she goes.

“I hate who I am today,” she read out from her victim impact statement. She might look normal she told the court, but she actually has a “massive invisible scar written across her face”.

“I am scared somebody is going to take me and do it all over again. My world is not safe. I can never forgive you,” she said.

Here’s some of the news footage aired last night after Hill’s sentencing. Post continues after video. 

In June 2018, she was abducted by Brett David Hill as she walked through a park in Newcastle.

The 49-year-old grabbed her around the neck as she made her way to school, dragging her – screaming – off the footpath.

He sexually assaulted her three times over a five-hour period.

Judge Roy Ellis recounted these three incidents in his sentencing, reiterating how "unbelievably terrified" the little girl would have been. Hill showed no empathy, no compassion, and no sympathy, he said.

Hill says he was homeless and angry at the time after just losing his job. He attacked and abducted the girl in broad daylight, armed with a pair of scissors. The attack went for five hours, before he finally let her go at 2:15pm at a local railway station.

The prosecutor described her experience as "incomprehensible".

"This young girl is simply treated by this man as a sexual toy," he said, telling the court she suffered every form of sexual abuse possible.

Hill told the court he'd taken synthetic cannabis which can make you go "crazy" and earlier pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated kidnapping, seven counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child under 16 and one count of possessing child abuse material.

"I'm so sorry. I never set out on this day to be a horrible person. I did something I thought I'd never do. I hope one day you can move on from this," he said.

The judge sentenced Hill to 23 years and six months in prison, with a minimum term of 17 years.

A psychological report revealed the teenager now has suicidal thoughts because she feels worthless.

"My life as I know it is changed forever. The world was safe, I had nothing to worry about. Now I feel the sky gets gloomier and I fall into a dark hole and I can't get out," she said.

The victim and her family said they will never forgive the man who did this to her.

"I hope you burn in hell, you scum," her father yelled as he was led away from court.

As the ABC reports, police have previously praised the girl for the level of detail she was able to give them after her attack. It was integral to their case.

Yesterday she showed that courage again, standing in front of a courtroom and directly telling her attacker what he did to her.

"You will have to live with what you did to me," she told him. "I can never forgive you."

With AAP.

Feature Image: Getty.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.