A New Hampshire boarding school student bravely re-accounted the sexual violation she endured in testimony On Wednesday.
The student reported being sexually assaulted by a popular senior, Owen Labrie, 19, but that she attempted to remain “friends” with him in order not to make a scene during their graduation weekend, according to Reuters.
The trial for Labrie has him charged with multiple counts of rape stemming back from the 2014 encounter at the school.
Labrie was s student at St. Paul’s, a school with a long history having been founded in 1856. The school’s alumni consists of many very powerful current and past U.S. figures, including U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.
The also had a long history of a tradition called a “senior salute,” in which the younger students agreed to have sexual encounters with seniors, which is why the then-15 year old victim alleges the incident took place.
“I thought I might get to see a cool place, and maybe we’ll kiss, but that’s all,” said the teen, who is now 16. Afterward, she added, “I felt gross, I felt violated.”
The incident took place when Labrie brought the female student up to the roof of a remote building which led them down into a mechanical room below where proceeded to assault her. After her account that Labrie repeatedly attempted to remove her underwear, the prosecutor, Catherine Ruffle, asked her if she asked him to stop at any point. The girl broke out in tears as she answered:
“I didn’t say anything,” she said. “I was thinking, ‘Ow, I’m in pain,’ but I couldn’t think of anything else. I felt like I was frozen.”
In order to keep he attack from escalating rumors and to attempt to assert her control over the situation, the girl said she remained “friends” with Labrie and exchanged civil emails.
In order to obscure the teen’s innocent account, Defense attorney J.W. Carney cited a transcript of a police interview with one the girl’s friends, in which the friend admitted to conversations in which the girl discussed the possibility of having sexual relations with Labrie.
