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Case 1:20-cr-00330-PAE Document675 _ Filed 06/25/22 Page14of21 It is well known that being a crime victim inflicts numerous immediate psychological traumas on victims as well as those close to them. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (“PTSD”) is commonly diagnosed in victims of violent crime. See Jim Parsons & Tiffany Bergin, Zhe Impact of Criminal Justice Involvement on Victims Mental Health, 23 J. TRAUMATIC STRESS 182, 182 (2010). PTSD can afflict not only the direct victims of violent crime, but also those who experience its profound repercussions more indirectly, such as family members and friends. Dean G. Kilpatrick & Ron Acierno, Mental Health Needs of Crime Victims: Epidemiology and Outcomes, 16 J. TRAUMATIC STRESS 119, 119, 125-27 (2003). PTSD is far from the only injury that violent crime can inflict on victims. Depression, substance abuse, panic disorder, and suicide are common victim impacts. See Parsons & Bergin, supra, 23 J. TRAUMATIC STRESS at 182. Empirical research continues to demonstrate the importance of hearing from crime victims during sentencing—particularly victims of sexual offenses. Among the most recent research on the subject was conducted in Australia, where Rhiannon Davies and Lorana Bartels closely examined the perspectives of six adult female victims and fifteen justice professionals, supplemented by analysis of one hundred sentencing statements. See Rhiannon Davies and Lorana Bartels, THE USE OF VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS IN SENTENCING OF SEXUAL OFFENSES: STORIES OF STRENGTH (2021). The book-length study found that victim impact statements have the potential to give victims voice, validation, and vindication, which can be an important step in recovering from the trauma inflicted by a defendant’s sexual crime. Sarah’s and Elizabeth’s victim impact statement demonstrate that they both have already benefitted from knowing that Maxwell has been prosecuted, found guilty, and that they were allowed 14 DOJ-OGR-00010705