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 The teen testified on Wednesday that fellow student Owen Labrie,
now 19, raped her after luring her to a remote building in the
wooded campus of St. Paul's School, whose graduates include
prominent U.S. business and political figures, including U.S.
Secretary of State John Kerry.
The trial has cast a light on what Labrie has described as the
school tradition of a "senior salute," in which younger students
agree to sex with graduating seniors. The school has said the
alleged tradition did not reflect its values.
The victim, who was 15 at the time of the attack and is now 16, said
on Wednesday that she initially made light of it with friends but
later "felt violated."
"I was crying in the shower. I felt like something had just been
taken away from me," she said. "Yet I still felt it was somehow my
fault, that I should've done more."
An attorney for Labrie, 19, contends that the two had a consensual
encounter that did not include sexual intercourse, following a
friendly and sometimes flirtatious series of emails between the
pair.
During the start of cross-examination on Wednesday, defense attorney
J.W. Carney, whose clients have included Boston mob boss James
"Whitey" Bulger, asked the teen if her intentions had been as
innocent as she described.
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He cited a police report that said the teen had told a friend she
might have a sexual encounter with Labrie. The teen said she had no
recollection of making such a statement.
Labrie, who is from Tunbridge, Vermont, has pleaded not guilty to
three felony sexual assault charges, which each carry a sentence of
up to 20 years in prison.
The teen testified that her older sister, a classmate of Labrie's
who had been friends with him, punched Labrie in the face when she
learned of the encounter.
(Writing by Scott Malone)
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