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A 45-year-old man was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison for beating, suffocating with a pillow and burning his girlfriend with cigarettes over a three-day period in Santa Ana as he prevented her from leaving.
Gavin John Duffy was convicted July 18 of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant, torture and false imprisonment, all felonies. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for causing great bodily injury in a domestic violence incident.
Prosecutors argued for a prison sentence of at least a seven years to life, but Orange County Superior Court Judge Michael Cassidy stayed the life sentence on the torture conviction and opted for an eight-year prison commitment. Duffy was given credit for 1,793 days behind bars.
Deputy District Attorney Elise Levy said in court papers that the defendant “continuously denied perpetrating the offense in this case and has never acknowledged any wrongdoing.”
She added that Duffy “has shown zero remorse for his actions and the impact he has had on the victim.”
The victim, who lives out of state now and was reluctant to testify, said during the trial she “believed she was going to die” when she was attacked, Levy said.
The victim has been diagnosed with autism and bipolar disorder and was “heavily medicated during the three-day incident,” Levy said.
The victim said in an impact statement that she has “ongoing sessions with a therapist. I have (post-traumatic stress disorder) from this and I will never be the same person I was before I was beaten and burned and nearly suffocated by Mr. Duffy.”
She added, “I was gaslighted by him constantly. He was very psychologically abusive and made me question my own sanity. … I have nightmares and flashbacks and I wake up crying and sobbing.”
Duffy’s attorney, Kelly Rozek, said in court papers that her client suffers from bipolar 1 and schizoaffective disorder.
Over a three-day period starting April 13, 2018, Duffy attacked the victim repeatedly, punching her 40 times, pulled her hair multiple times and suffocated her with a pillow three times, according to prosecutors in a trial brief.
“While defendant was pushing the pillow into the victim’s face, he was screaming that she was cheating on him,” Levy wrote in a trial brief.
The beating victim attempted to shout for help and kicked her legs, “but this caused the defendant to push the pillow down harder onto her face,” Levy said.
Duffy also burned the victim with cigarettes about five times on various parts of her body, “including once on her face,” Levy said.
The victim “attempted to escape the room multiple times, but defendant physically blocked the door, preventing her from leaving,” Levy said. “When the victim attempted to leave the room or scream for help, defendant would continue to batter and assault her, leaving victim in fear for her life.”
The victim said she lapsed in and out of consciousness, and once when she woke on April 16, 2018, she realized her captor was gone, so she called for help and the landlady heard her and helped take her to a local emergency room, Levy said.
When the defendant returned home, he asked the landlady where the victim was, and she told him the victim was in a hospital, Levy said. Duffy denied beating her and said she showed up at his door battered, Levy said.
Duffy allegedly sent her a string of text messages on April 23, 2018, apologizing, Levy said.
