Student in Hiding After Trolls Accuse Her of Falsely Reporting Rape
An Ohio University student has been forced into hiding after a website accused her of falsely reporting rape—even though she's not at all involved in the case in question.
The New York Daily News reports that Rachel Cassidy has been excused from classes and won't leave her sorority house after Peter Nolan, half of the team that runs the website Crimes Against Fathers, accused her of filing false rape charges. The accusation stems from a woman's report of rape after being filmed in a video of a sexual act performed outside during the university's homecoming.
Crimes Against Fathers, which is known for releasing personal details on women its users believe have committed perjury against men, claimed that, since the act appeared consensual, the woman in the video had falsely cried rape. Parroting the 4chan users who published the video, Crimes Against Fathers named Cassidy as the woman in the video based on similarities in appearance.
But the woman in the video isn't Cassidy. In an interview with the student paper, she said she was asleep in her sorority house at the time of the incident, and she didn't hear about the accusations surrounding her online until four days later. She has since stayed inside the sorority house and been excused from classes. Her contact information has also been removed from the school's directory.
Nolan has no regrets. In an interview with Buzzfeed, he showed a disturbing dedication to his decision:
If Rachel Cassidy goes out tomorrow and buys a gun and blows her head off that’s not a problem for me. I’m prepared to say that in the public. Now the reason I’m prepared to say that in the public is because I’m reflecting back the exact same attitude that it would be if it were a man.
The rape investigation is still ongoing, and no charges have been filed either for rape or for filing a false report. But authorities are certain of one thing: Cassidy is absolutely not involved.
[image via Buzzfeed]