Survivor Lifts Publication Ban to Help Others Heal

When Kayla Deveau was 14 years old, her best friend's father raped her twice after giving the girls drugs and alcohol. Sixteen years later, she's doing something most survivors never get the chance to do: reclaiming her story on her own terms.

In October 2022, Deveau walked into a police station in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia, and reported what Bruce Douglas Hatfield had done to her back in 2010. At his trial, she testified about the assaults. In May 2024, Hatfield, now 60, was found guilty on two counts each of sexual assault and sexual interference and sentenced to nine years in prison.

Courts typically place publication bans on sexual assault cases to protect victims' identities. But Deveau asked the judge to remove hers, even knowing she might face shame or blame for coming forward publicly.

"You don't really see a face of a survivor. You only see the predator," she says. The decision was hard, but it was right.

Since lifting the ban, Deveau has been flooded with messages from other survivors sharing their own stories. "People are sharing their vulnerability with me. I can only imagine how healing it is," she says. "Now I can connect with these people. We've all had something terrible happen to us. It's actually just like being in a beautiful community now."

Why This Inspires

Deveau's courage is creating ripples far beyond her own healing. By putting a face to survival, she's helping others emerge from silence and shame.

Her victim impact statement told Hatfield directly: "You chose the wrong girl." She wanted him to know the generational hurt he caused, how his actions affected her children, parents, husband, and friends. Most of all, she wanted him to know she was taking her power back.

For years, Deveau tried to suppress what happened through substances and denial. Nothing worked. She's learned to heal at her own pace, in her own way. And since she can't forget what happened, she decided to let good come from talking about it.

Her oldest daughter approaching the age Deveau was when she was assaulted became the tipping point. She knew she had to act, both to protect her child and honor her 14-year-old self.

"For a long time, it really took my life away," Deveau says. "I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I'm seeing some positive out of this."

She knows the sexual violence will always shape who she is, but she's choosing how that story gets told now.