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Defense is done questioning accuser in prep school rape case

A girl who accuses a recent graduate of an elite New Hampshire prep school of raping her as part of a campus tradition of sexual conquest says she was traumatized and in shock when she spoke to police five days later.

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Under questioning from Labrie’s lawyer Thursday, the now-16-year-old girl burst into tears, saying she was “violated in so many ways”. He described the scoreboard he and his classmates kept, written in marker on a wall behind some washing machines (which, he says, the school kept painting over, so they eventually moved it online).

The teen, whose identity INSIDE EDITION is protecting, was defiant in the face of tough cross-examination by the defense attorney for 19-year-old defendant Owen Labrie. She told the jury she was fine with them kissing but did not want it to go much further. On the witness stand, the girl said she was in pain when he bit her and during intercourse but said nothing to Labrie, who was 18 at the time. At the time, she told a detective she was “excited to have attention” from Labrie and didn’t know “whether to be proud or happy” over their encounter.

She said she was confused and “cloudy” when she sent those messages. When Carney asked the accuser about this, she said she couldn’t remember and that even if it was her intentions prior, it wasn’t during the moment of the incident.

“I was raped”, the girl said, crying suddenly.

The alleged victim will again testify on Thursday morning.

When her friend returned to the dorm after meeting Labrie, the former roommate testified she could tell there had been a problem. She now says she was laughing nervously, not happily, and was just trying to be polite. The judge in the case has ordered that the names of minors testifying not be made public.

Once Carney completed his questioning, the girl left the stand in tears and quickly exited the courtroom.

After the alleged assault she said she didn’t know what to do.

Prosecutors said she will testify later this week that she never agreed to have sex and that Labrie forced himself on her. “I thought that I was sending so many messages with my body that she thought he was very clueless – a very clueless person”, she said. He and his defense team claim both that no intercourse took place and that the accuser was a willing participant in the Senior Salute.

Prosecutors have said the rape occurred as part of a tradition at St. Paul’s called “Senior Salute” in which seniors try to have sex with or romance underclassmen. The “Senior Salute” is an annual competition among senior boys of who can have sex with the largest number of younger female students.

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Labrie, 19, is also expected to testify during the trial, held a short distance from the St. Paul’s campus.

Image:Owen Labrie