- A Cape Cod man was convicted of assault in 2014 for torturing and abusing his girlfriend.
- The case garnered national media attention and prompted his victim to become a survivor's advocate.
In an intense three-day 2014 trial in a Cape Cod courtroom, Justin Mustafa was accused of orchestrating a twisted week of drug-fueled torture in which he injected his girlfriend with heroin, repeatedly beat her with a belt, and forced her to perform oral sex on his pit bull.
While a judge ordered a finding of not guilty on an animal-abuse charge, the Cape Cod man was ultimately convicted on assault and other charges, and sentenced to six years in prison. The disturbing case garnered national media attention, and prompted his victim, Gabbe Rowland, to become an advocate for domestic-violence survivors.
Now, more than a year after his release from prison, a local probate-court judge has allowed the man to change his name in a move that Rowland says lets him dodge accountability and puts other women at risk of becoming his victim.
"Based on what he has done to me and other women in my community, it's a matter of public safety," Rowland told Insider.
In November, Rowland appeared by phone in Barnstable Probate and Family Court hearing objecting to the name change.
She told the court she believed that if Mustafa — now Justin Curtis — was allowed to change his name, women wouldn't be able to easily unearth his past.
In court, though, Curtis, 33, argued that religion was the reason he was applying for a name change.
Curtis testified that he converted to Christianity from Islam at the request of his mother several years ago and that Mustafa is a name with Islamic roots. His mother has since died, and he wanted to change his name to avoid the "religious conflict," he said.
On Tuesday, a judge ruled in his favor.
Judge Angela Ordoñez wrote that because of her "difficult experience," Rowland's fear that people may not know Curtis' criminal history without knowing his birth name is credible.
Curtis, though, isn't attempting to hide the name change and filed notice of it in The Cape Cod Times and at the court's probation office, as required, she wrote.
"The Court understands the Objector's concerns and reason for presenting an objection and commends her making her reasons known," Ordoñez ruled. "The Court ultimately finds that Petitioner's reason for seeking the name change is reasonable and not against public interest."
Woman 'in shock' after decision
The week of abuse that Rowland endured at her partner's hands was widely reported in local and international media.
Rowland gave interviews to The Cape Cod Times and later to other media outlets, taking control of her story by sharing the details of her abuse and healing — always using her real name.
She said she and Mustafa began dating in 2011, but he was soon sent to jail on charges related to filming his ex-girlfriend naked without her consent. He told her at the time the accusation was a lie made up by a vengeful ex, and she believed him, Rowland said.
She stayed with him during the year he was in jail. When he was released in 2013, their relationship became physically and verbally abusive, she said.
But the worst was still ahead. It wasn't until after Rowland broke up with Mustafa that the abuse took an even more sinister turn.
In June 2013, he picked her up from work and injected her with heroin. Over the next week, he did it several more times, she said. Rowland said when she was sick and high from the drugs, he would rape her and beat her with a belt. On one occasion, she said, he told her to undress then brought his pit bull in and told her to give the dog oral sex. She said Mustafa then forced her to give him oral sex.
The Cape Cod Times reported that at the trial Mustafa called one witness — his grandfather, a former local selectman and police officer who said that he never heard any signs of abuse coming from his grandson's bedroom.
A message left for Curtis at a number listed for his grandfather was not immediately returned. Other attempts to locate Curtis were unsuccessful.
Rowland said she is healing from the abuse and is working to combat the stigma around domestic violence.
She told Insider she's still "in shock" that a man accused of such vile abuse was allowed to change his name after being convicted.
Rowland said she felt the probate judge "was on my side" when she told her story in court but thinks Curtis "did his homework" and his religious claim guaranteed his victory.
Rowland has a permanent restraining order against Curtis, and documents provided to her by the state Department of Corrections list his address in Falmouth — the same town where she lives.
"They say he's in Falmouth, the same town that I'm in, about two minutes away," she said.
Because there were no formal sex-crime charges in her case against Curtis, he's not registered as a sex offender and so changing his name eliminates the most easily accessible link to the crimes he committed, Rowland said.