Celeb News: Nate Parker's rape accuser committed suicide in 2012

Nialler

Quote:

'Birth of a Nation' Director Nate Parker's College Rape Accuser Is Dead

"She was tormented" — New details emerge about the life and death of the young woman who accused the star and director of the Oscar contender of sexual assault.
The woman at the center of the sexual assault case shadowing The Birth of a Nation director-writer-star Nate Parker is dead, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The original case stems from an August 1999 incident involving the accuser and two Penn State wrestlers at the time, Parker and Celestin (who has a co-story credit on Birth of a Nation). According to court records, the trio wound up at Parker’s off-campus apartment where, the accuser later said, she was sexually assaulted while unconscious. The woman waited a few weeks and then reported the assault to local police, according to court records. Parker and Celestin were eventually arrested, charged with sexual assault and the case went to trial.

The case has attracted renewed attention since Birth of a Nation’s breakout success at the Sundance Film Festival and its acquisition by Fox Searchlight for $17 million. The film, a moving account of the Nat Turner slave uprising, is a serious Oscar contender, and Parker spoke out on Friday to the industry blog Deadline about the accusations.

Parker, who admitted that he and the woman had engaged in consensual sex prior to that night, eventually was acquitted. Celestin was convicted and sentenced to six months in jail, but the conviction was later overturned on appeal based on the argument that he had had ineffective representation. A retrial did not go forward because the woman declined to testify. She later agreed to a $17,000 settlement with Penn State.

According to a briefing filed by the accuser’s attorney, Parker and Celestin began harassing the woman, referred to as Jane Doe in certain court documents, in the days and weeks after she reported the alleged rape to police. “Parker and Celestin began an organized campaign to harass Jane Doe and make her fear for her safety,” wrote her attorneys, “Jane Doe was harassed on campus and was no longer able to eat or socialize in public areas.”

According to this legal brief, Parker showed up outside her dormitory or buildings where she had classes, “hurled sexual epithets” at her when she walked around campus, and made harassing phone calls to her room.

A few weeks later, on November 17, 1999, she tried to commit suicide for the first time, according to court documents. Six days later, she tried again. The next month she stopped attending classes and in January she withdrew altogether.

Full article

Horrifying story.

Navyboy20

What a terrible situation all around. An acquittal does not prove that he did NOT do it. But that doesn't mean that he did it either.

mdnazn

you should add his homophobic remarks if you want ATRL to care about this

Giselle

Quote:

Originally posted by mdnazn

you should add his homophobic remarks if you want ATRL to care about this

King has since come out in support, try again.

mdnazn

Quote:

Originally posted by Giselle

King has since come out in support, try again.

Who is this "King" you're speaking of?

BadBitches

Disgusting how this predator got away with it. The poor victim

mdnazn

Quote:

Originally posted by mdnazn

you should add his homophobic remarks if you want ATRL to care about this

ddd
I was right

Ares

He and his co-writer are trash. Trash.

Hope he loses the nom and/or the win and is blacklisted in Hollywood!

Achilles.

This is really disturbing. Poor girl. May she rest in peace.

I don't like the way Parker seems to speak about this... As if it's an "obstacle" that he "overcame." And all this talk about supporting survivors and having five daughters is supposed to mitigate the damage.

This kinda puts audiences in a precarious situation. The Birth of a Nation is one of the year's most anticipated movies and the Oscars frontrunner (Best Pic, along with Parker in Actor, Screenplay, and maybe Director). If people won't support Woody Allen films because of allegations against him, isn't it only fair to treat Nate Parker the same way? Does the fact that Parker's film deals with such a culturally and politically significant theme exempt Parker from judgement, or should we judge him more for trying to make such a film given his own history?

NewRihannaStan

Wow how disgusting..