Savannah Dietrich Case: All Charges Against Survivor Dropped
The charges of contempt brought against 17-year-old sexual assault survivor Savannah Dietrich have been dropped. Dietrich faced charges after tweeting the names of the boys who sexually assaulted her in defiance of their lenient sentence and gained a following of more than 62,000 people who petitioned to keep her out of jail.
David Mejia told the Associated Press that all charges of contempt were being dismissed by the prosecutors in the case, though he denied that Dietrich's popularity had any influence on their decision. Supporters have already flooded the Internet with support for the teen, whose words inspired them to share their own stories.
"There you go, lock me up. I'm not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell," Dietrich tweeted. She also released the names of the boys who sexually assaulted her and circulated pictures of the incident.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The boys' attorneys allege that Dietrich had no right to name her attackers in public and violated the court's confidentiality order.
"So many of my rights have been taken away by these boys," Dietrich told The Courier-Journal. "I'm at the point that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it. If they really feel it's necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me…as opposed to throwing those boys in jail for what they did to me, then I don't understand justice," she explained.
Dietrich waived her own confidentiality to speak with The Courier-Journal about the situation. She has also allowed the media to be present at her contempt hearing and says that her First Amendment right should give her the opportunity to be heard.
"She feels it's important to speak out and chose to do so," Dietrich's attorney Emily Farrar-Crockett told The Courier-Journal. It's important that Dietrich tell her story, given that she violated the court order and the advice of her attorneys.
According to Dietrich, she fell unconscious after drinking at a party. She was sexually assaulted by two young men and later saw pictures that the boys had taken and shared. The two boys pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and voyeurism as part of a plea bargain.
While terms of the plea bargain, such as what the recommended sentence is, are not known to the public, Dietrich feels the agreement is too lenient.
"I felt like they were given a very, very light deal. I wasn't happy with it at all," she explained.
The boys are due to be sentenced next month.
