For four years, 24-year-old Yee Xiong fought to put behind her sexual assault and the questions about what role she may have played in it. Two hung juries and, finally a plea deal later, her attacker was sent to jail. But just when Xiong thought it was all over, it seems to be starting again.
According to the Sacremento Bee, Xiong is now being sued for defamation by her attacker, 26-year-old Lang Her, who claims that she and her siblings tarnished his reputation when they called him a rapist online in reference to the assault. Xiong’s attorney, McGregor Scott, is set to appear Monday in a Northern California courtroom to try to get it thrown out by citing their First Amendment right
Her, the perpetrator, was not convicted of rape; instead, he pleaded no contest to felony assault and was sentenced in July to one year in jail, according to news reports.
“We were shocked, speechless,” Xiong told the Bee about the lawsuit. “Who in their right mind would do this? I felt re-victimized. I want to move on with my life and this is still holding me back.”
Her and Xiong’s lawyers could not immediately be reached for comment.
In July 2012, Xiong and Her who both grew up in the same Hmong community in Marysville, California not far from Sacramento, were students at the University of California at Davis.
Xiong told authorities that after a night of drinking at an off-campus apartment, she fell asleep and later woke up “feeling intense pressure on her lower body and intense pain,” according to court documents cited by the Sacramento Bee at the time. She said her arms were pinned at her sides, and she could not speak — but she did not say why. She said Her was having sex with her without her consent.
Although Her has continued to deny that he had sex with Xiong, DNA from his semen was found in Xiong during a medical examination, according to the court documents.
Xiong was quoted to have said that the burden of proof is almost always on the victim, which “further perpetuates our rape culture that continues to excuse rapists for their heinous actions.”
Going over to a friend’s house never justifies someone getting raped. Drinking with friends until drunk never justifies someone getting raped. Sleeping next to a friend in the same room never justifies someone getting raped. And believe me when I say that those who believe that someone’s actions made them deserve rape are cowards and fools — just like Lang, including those who have continued to protect him.
That woman who was raped in 2012 could have been your daughter, sister, niece, aunt, and cousin.
On July 19, Her was sentenced to one year in jail and five years of probation and ordered to register as a sex offender and receive sex offender counseling, according to reports.
According to the Sacreento Bee, Her is suing Xiong $4 million.
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