Four years after she was sexually assaulted in an on-campus apartment at the University of California, Yee Xiong, 24, faces ongoing anguish after her attacker filed a $4 million lawsuit claiming he was defamed by comments made online by the victim's family.
The Washington Post reported that Lang Her, who is serving a one-year jail term for the 2012 incident, claimed his reputation had been tarnished by Ms Xiong and her siblings who called him a rapist on Facebook.
The case, which lasted until 2016, saw Mr Her avoid a rape conviction by pleading no contest to felony assault charges.
Mr Her's lawsuit claims that one of Yee's older sisters made 'false and defamatory' statements against him in Facebook posts on a day the case was seen in court.
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The comments posted on Facebook included 'rapists destroy lives', and 'rapists hurt all of us, not just their victims'.
Regarding the defamation lawsuit, Ms Xiong told the Sacramento Bee: "We were shocked, speechless."
"Who in their right mind would do this? I felt re-victimised. I want to move on with my life and this is still holding me back," she added
Ms Xiong's attorney, McGregor Scott, told the Bee that he will attempt to have case thrown out when it's heard at a Northern California courtroom this week.
Both were students at the university at the time of the attack, which occurred on July 10, 2012.
Ms Xiong told police she woke to find Mr Her on top of her, according to court documents.
Mr Her's semen was later found on the victim by using a rape kit, but he maintained that no penetration occurred, and later claimed he believed Ms Xiong wanted to have sex with him.
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