A former student at an elite New Hampshire boarding school who was sexually abused as a teenager has criticized US President Joe Biden for nominating a federal bank attorney whose hardball tactics forced her to reveal her identity.
Chessy Prout, 24, was a 15-year-old junior at St. Paul’s boarding school, a 162-year-old Concord facility that costs $58,000 a year, when she was sexually assaulted by Owen Labrie in 2014.
Labrie was convicted of sexual assault and child endangerment, as well as using a computer to lure the girl into sex, a crime that required him To as a sex offender for life. Ultimately, he was behind bars for less than eight months.
Michael Delaney, representing St. Paul’s in the civil suit, filed a motion against Prout’s request for anonymity if the case went to trial, the controversial tactic publicly criticized to force a settlement.
Sexual assault survivor Chessy Prout, 24, has criticized US President Joe Biden’s nomination of Michael Delaney for the federal bench
Delaney has vehemently denied Prout’s claims that he merely represents the elite boarding school in New Hampshire and is looking at his career in his 30s
The move angered Prout so much that she decided to go public with the story and revealed her identity during a 2016 interview with Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show.
Last year, Prout, who campaigns for sexual assault survivors, told the Boston Globe that she began to feel it was worth speaking up until Biden appointed Delaney as a federal judge.
“I’m determined to have some good or some kind of change out of all the terrible things that have happened to me and my family,” she told the outlet.
In January, Biden won the former New Hampshire attorney general for a seat on the US First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston.
After hearing the news, Prout and her family alerted the Biden administration and New Hampshire senators to Delaney’s actions, but the information fell on deaf ears.
“I feel like bad actors get rewarded all the time,” she said of the nomination.
“I’m pretty exhausted, even at the age of 24, but at the same time I had higher hopes for this White House.”
Prout told the outlet that Biden’s history of fighting sexual violence against women, including active participation as vice president in an Obama administration program called It’s On Us, once inspired her.
Launching the initiative after her own sexual assault gave her strength, she said, adding that it “felt like the tide was turning”.
“To see this issue being addressed in a really public and conspicuous way when I was personally going through this issue felt like kismet, it felt like it was meant to be,” Prout said.
Despite Biden’s continued work on It’s On Us after the Obama administration said his nomination of Delaney left them “extremely disappointed.”
“It is really disheartening that it is this political party that has been so vocal in support of survivors and the fact that they are now throwing their unwavering support behind a candidate who has been practicing basically victim intimidation tactics,” she said.
“It just blows my mind that there isn’t a better option.”
In January, Biden won the former New Hampshire attorney general for a seat on the US First Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston
Owen Labrie, 23, was released from the Merrimack County Jail in 2020 after serving less than six months of an expected 10 months behind bars. He is pictured left in December 2018
Prout first shed her anonymity in 2016 (pictured) during an interview with Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show
The White House stood firm on its decision, telling the Boston Globe that it “expects senators to consider Mr. Delaney’s full record when considering his nomination.”
Democratic New Hampshire Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan, who recommended Delaney, also stood by the nomination.
Prout, noting that both senators had pushed legislation to support sexual assault survivors, said they would do people like her an injustice by Delaney’s appointment.
“There was a lot of talk and not that much action,” she said.
“You can talk so much, you can put up so many posters, you can do so many social media posts to support survivors, but that means nothing, nothing, unless you’re supporting them in real life.”
The 24-year-old and her family wrote a letter to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee reviewing the nomination, with copies to Biden and US Vice President Kamala Harris.
At his confirmation hearing last month, Delaney said he only represented St. Paul’s School and dismissed Prout’s allegations of intimidation.
“Look at the entirety of my records spanning almost 30 years when you review my qualifications,” he said.
Prout questioned his “fitness to judge” after filing the motion against her.
“This was his service as a member of the New Hampshire State Bar. He knows the system better than St. Paul’s,’ she said.
Delaney faced stiff opposition from several Republicans and at least two Democrats, who expressed concern about the nomination, which is awaiting a committee vote.
Prout tried to find a way forward after the attack.
Prout said she had “higher hopes” for the White House after hearing about Delaney’s nomination
The 24-year-old has since been an advocate for sexual assault survivors
“My journey as a survivor was about taking back control and power over my autonomy, my body, my story. I was so angry but just wanted to take away from them any kind of influence or power they had over me,” she said of her reaction to Delaney’s legal tactics.
“I really think it’s my duty and my job, and my family agrees, to make sure these tactics are no longer used as a weapon against young survivors.”
Speaking out and writing her memoir, I Have the Right To, were important steps for Prout as she tried to rebuild her identity.
“I wanted to reclaim my name, reclaim my story,” she said in a 2018 interview with Today.
“Because it’s difficult for a survivor to come forward like that. And I had the support of a family and the support of a community to return to, which not many survivors have.’
In her memoir, Prout said, “Rape is not a punishment for poor judgment,” which she hopes will prompt people who expect certain behaviors from sexual assault survivors to reconsider their point of view.
“I just want to emphasize that there is no such thing as a perfect victim,” she said.
“People can pull us apart, tear us apart, tear us down, try to poke holes in our stories, but at the same time we’re human, we make mistakes and we’re not perfect.
“That’s what I wanted to show by writing this book – to show my vulnerabilities, show my weaknesses and be able to say that it makes you strong.”
When Prout first spoke publicly about her attack, she told Savannah on Today, “I want everyone to know that I no longer have fear or shame and I never should have.”
The student told the then-host that she sometimes suffered from panic attacks after the attack, which resulted in her hiding in her closet, rocking on the floor and slapping her legs.
Repeating that it felt right to stand up for herself and give up her anonymity, she said: “Although it was scary and quite difficult, I wouldn’t be where I am today without being able to stand up for myself during this time.” .’
In 2020 Labrie was released from prison.
Although he was acquitted of rape in 2015, a jury found him guilty of misdemeanor charges of sexual assault and endangerment of child welfare. He was also convicted of luring an underage student for sex with a computer, prompting him To as a sex offender
He had already been behind bars for two months for violating his curfew — a violation exposed by a VICE journalist who met him on a train and conducted an impromptu interview — and was due to serve an additional 10 months during that time , but his attorney confirmed his release to ABC News.
Labrie, of Tunbridge, Vermont, was found guilty in 2015 of sexually assaulting Prout as part of “Senior Salute,” a game of sexual conquest at St. Paul’s School in 2014.
In “Senior Salute,” a group of eight boys in a St. Paul’s School dorm room competed to crown their name in a game of sexual conquest, with a senior emailing a girl to see if she could would meet him.
It is reported that they targeted younger students.
Labrie, then 18, met with Prout and was subsequently accused of sexually assaulting her in a school building on May 30, 2014 after Prout’s sister found out about the encounter.
Her parents were notified and the school contacted the authorities. The victim later claimed that Labrie raped her.
The defendants claimed that they never had sex but only fooled around.
However, after it was revealed that his DNA had been found in her underwear, he claimed he may have ejaculated prematurely.
Sperm found in her underwear could not be positively attributed to Labrie.
Although he was acquitted of rape in 2015, a jury found him guilty of misdemeanor charges of sexual assault and endangerment of child welfare.
He was also convicted of luring an underage student for sex with a computer, prompting him To as a sex offender.