NEW HAMPSHIRE
USA Today
John Bacon, USA TODAY August 20, 2015
A rape trial linked to an unsettling ritual at an exclusive New England prep school marched grimly into its third day Thursday with the teen accuser facing intense scrutiny from the lawyer representing the teen defendant.
Defense lawyer J.W. Carney concluded his cross examination of the alleged victim, who was a 15-year-old freshman in May 2014 when she says fellow student Owen Labrie lured into a secluded room on the sprawling, 2,000-acre campus of St. Paul School in Concord, N.H.
Labrie, 19, was an 18-year-old, Harvard-bound senior within days of graduation. Both teens have acknowledged their encounter was linked to “senior salute,” apparently a school tradition involving seniors “scoring” some type of sex-related conquests from younger students.
The girl, now 16, testified that Labrie began kissing her roughly and that over her objections the encounter regressed into forcible rape. She testified she felt “powerless” and “frozen” when Labrie became aggressive — and that she initially blamed herself for not fighting back. She admitted to nervously laughing during the encounter.
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