After a 14-year-old girl accused a popular football player of rape, she and her family were driven from their small US town and their house mysteriously burned down.
Daisy Coleman, the alleged victim, has been named in publications and broadcasts with the permission of her mother Melinda, in order to draw attention to the case, the Kansas City Star reports.
In January 2012, in the 12,000-person Missouri town of Maryville, Daisy Coleman reported she had been raped by a popular 17-year-old boy from her school. She told police she was invited to a party where she had so much alcohol she could not stand, and had sex with the boy. The incident was partly filmed by one of the alleged perpetrator’s friends on his phone.
Daisy’s best friend, aged 13, also had sex with a 15-year-old boy. She told police she went into a bedroom with the 15-year-old boy, who was an acquaintance. The case was handled in juvenile court, but the Star accessed police records of his interview, in which he said although the girl said “no” multiple times, he undressed her, put a condom on and had sex with her.
