Sarah Kopp

Well, I remember the first time that someone really directly told me something was off, and it was when my son, who was my second brother,

born um he would have been about three months old and I was in a car accident with him and I ended up going to see a psychologist for a period of time because I was really struggling to you know get in the car and it was probably within the first first or second session of her just asking me a bunch of questions of my life as they do they get to know you but then I think it was after the second session she just slid me a piece of paper across and it was um

the domestic violence the wheel of violence thing that sort of breaks down all the different components of DB and she said to me she was like you know I think you might be having some issues with this and I think you need to have a look at it because you left the marriage right you did I mean that's a big spark of self-belief to begin with the fact that you did pack up your kids and leave this marriage

Yeah, I actually found out that he'd been talking to another woman and I think that was it for me.

I just, in that moment, I realized he was a liar because I think most of what held me there was this premise that he was at least honest and truthful and he was the, you know, everything that came out of his mouth was the truth.

And in that moment, I just went, what else is a lie?

And that's what, I guess, yeah, led me to leave.

But after, you know, a few years or so, probably five or so years after I left him, I remember I was at my best friend's house talking about it.

And she was like, why don't we just call the police and get them to come here if that makes you feel safer?

And I was like, look, okay, sure.

And that kind of got the ball rolling.

We rang the police together and they said they were going to send out a car.

But then it wasn't long, they called back and said, look, it might be better if you come to this station.

Just because of the sensitive nature of it, not all officers would be equipped to, you know, to deal with that kind of stuff.

So we got sent to a police station that had a CIB, Criminal Investigations Branch, and

And that's when I sat down with Detective Julia Ward for the very first time, who was the detective that investigated my case and, you know, continued to be involved with it the whole way through.

I couldn't have asked for a better police officer to sit down with.

She was absolutely incredible and not once did I feel doubted or, you know,

She just had all the time in the world to sit and listen to me and, you know, believed everything I said.

With my case, the crime was only really a six-month period prior to turning 16.