PTSD and Lies about Rape

As we speak, there is a civil suit going on in Virginia, where the person who was a Dean at the University of Virginia made out to be a victim in the faked rape case I wrote about here, here and here, is suing Rolling Stone magazine, who printed the story.

Nicole Eramo, the Dean in question, also sued the fake accuser, who for some reason is still referred to only as "Jackie" in the press, although she has a name, there was never a rape, and the actual damages were entirely suffered by other people.  There is no reason on God's green earth why she is being protected, but that's our press for you (note -- I'm fine with the protection of the names of actual rape victims).

So now, at the trial, this "Jackie" person is claiming some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the reason she ran to Rolling Stone with a made-up story about being gang-raped at a Phi Kappa Psi chapter during a party.  Rolling Stone ran with the story in a big way, forgetting to check some basic facts (such as the fact that there was no party at the Phi Psi house that day, and the person she is supposed to have attacked her, and whom she identified by having known that he worked at a certain place, never actually worked there).

Dean Eramo is still employed by the University; however, she is not a Dean any longer and has a different job.  The court limited her protection within this lawsuit, and the extent of her case, by virtue of her being a "partial celebrity", a ruling that defies rationality a bit since no one outside the Charlottesville campus had any idea who Nicole Eramo was before her reputation was trashed in Rolling Stone.

This "Jackie" is, we think, still at UVa, or maybe she isn't.  I don't really care.  I do care that she is reported to have an ego problem and a relationship desperation problem, as reported during the more fact-oriented and research-oriented parts of the later (i.e., post-Rolling Stone) reporting on the case.  And I care that now, having destroyed the reputation of Nicole Eramo, the Phi Kappa Psi chapter, and the entire UVa fraternity and sorority system, she's claiming PTSD.

PTSD is supposed to have blacked out her memory of the event enough to have had her make up the story in the first place, although if there wasn't an event in the first place, it is not clear what the "trauma" was for her to have had stress after.  Get it?


Now, you or I, if we were to have had PTSD after some traumatic event, well, we would go to our physician or psychologist, and try to deal with our issues in a rational way that focuses on us getting our arms around circumstances.

We would not run to Rolling Stone magazine and make up a story.

Then again, I (and, presumably, you) do not have a need for attention so strong as to make up phony stories about an event that never happened, and certainly would not do so, regardless, in such a way as to allow the destruction of the reputations of otherwise innocent people.

The trial of Rolling Stone and this "Jackie" person is going to come to a conclusion here in the next few days.  I only have the evidence before me reflecting the reporting that has gone on since, but in this case I know exactly how I hope the trial turns out.

At which point at least one news outlet with a shred of decency should protect actual rape victims by identifying and publicizing the name of this "Jackie."

Copyright 2016 by Robert Sutton
Like what you read here?  There's a new post from Bob at www.uberthoughtsUSA.com at 10am Eastern time, every weekday, giving new meaning to "prolific essayist."  Sponsorship and interview inquiries cheerfully welcomed at bsutton@alum.mit.edu or on Twitter at @rmosutton.