Rape accusations and school traditions on display in Labrie case

NEW HAMPSHIRE
Concord Monitor

By JEREMY BLACKMAN
Monitor staff
Saturday, August 22, 2015

It began with a headline moving across the wire last weekend: “Rape case points to sordid tradition at elite prep school.”

“When his trial begins Monday, prosecutors are expected to call current and former students to testify about the sexual culture at one of the country’s most selective boarding schools,” Associated Press reporter Lynne Tuohy wrote in her article.

The case, of course, was that of Owen Labrie, St. Paul’s School graduate accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl last year, as part of an annual ritual among seniors to have sexual contact with younger students. Labrie’s arrest last July drew regional attention, and local news outlets have been covering the claims against him – and those involving the school’s response – ever since.

But the world had not yet taken note.

Then, kaboom. The Washington Post ran Tuohy’s piece last Sunday. By Monday, CNN was following with its own coverage, and the New York Times and NBC had each sent correspondents to Concord. By Tuesday morning, the rickety old courthouse downtown was swarming with journalists and camera crews, poised for opening arguments.

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