After months of talking to police, dealing with school administration, and living with pain, a 16-year-old rape victim from Norman High School will finally feel at least a bit more at ease. In September, the girl?woke up from a party and found that a video of her being sexually assaulted while intoxicated had reached its way to the internet. She immediately told police and the investigation started, however it’did not lead to much. Even after she returned to school the next day, she was faced with bullying and harassment.
On November 24, almost 1,000 students walked out of class at Norman High School to show support for her?and two other girls who claimed they were raped by the same male student and to protest what they saw as a failure by the school administration to protect the three girls.
This led to?Tristen Kole Killman-Hardin, 18, to be charged with two counts of first-degree rape of an unconscious 16-year-old victim. According to the activist group YES All Daughters, the two other girls accusations are being looked into however no charges have been filed so far. Killman-Hardin admitted in an?affidavit signed by Norman Police Detective Ronald Collett that he was aware she was intoxicated while he was having intercourse with her. The Norman police also have audio and video having to do with the incident.
Sexual assault has become a spotlight issue, especially in schools and college campuses. Rolling Stone recently did an article reporting rape at the University of Virginia, and many other people have come out to say that they have had similar experiences at the same, and other, schools.
This is a very sad subject, but it’s important that it’s being seen more in the media and news. Rape is serious. It happens to our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters. It takes away pride and dignity that can only be regained through years and years of trail, error, and effort. By letting the media, police, politicians, and everyone else know that rape victims deserve to be helped, to put stories like these in the spotlight to let people see, by doing all of this, we are helping those who cannot speak for themselves and those who one day might not be able to, either.
Here is a video of the report by KOCO-TV on Tuesday:
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