Sexual Assault Victim Savannah Dietrich Faces Charges For Outing Attackers On Twitter: ‘I Don’t Understand Justice’

By Laura Matthews | July 22 2012 5:52 PM

Savannah Dietrich, a 17-year-old Kentucky girl who was the victim of a sexual assault last August, could face contempt-of-court charges for outing her two juvenile attackers on Twitter.

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Savannah Dietrich, a 17-year-old Kentucky girl who was the victim of a sexual assault last August, could face contempt-of-court charges for outing her two juvenile attackers on Twitter. "If they really feel it's necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me ... then I don't understand justice," she said.

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Attorneys for her attackers argued for contempt charges because Dietrich violated the confidentiality of a juvenile hearing.

Dietrich decided to out the teens because she was frustrated they are to be given lenient sentences as part of plea bargains that led them to plead guilty to the crimes against her, which included distributing photographs of the incident, the Courier-Journal in Louisville reported.

The teenage girl said about a year ago she was drinking at a gathering and became unconscious. She learned of the incident months after it happened and found out photos were taken and shared with others.

There you go, lock me up, Dietrich tweeted, naming the boys who sexually assaulted her. I'm not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell.

The plea deals were reached last month. By revealing the teens' names, Dietrich violated a court order demanding their names be kept confidential. The teens' attorneys have asked that a Jefferson District Court judge hold Dietrich in contempt.

Dietrich's Twitter account has since been closed, but if she is found to be in contempt, she could be fined $500 and serve a 180-day jail sentence.

Dietrich told the Courier-Journal that the boys took away many of her rights. The teens pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor voyeurism late last month, the newspaper reported. They haven't been sentenced yet.

I'm at the point, that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it, Dietrich told the paper. If they really feel it's necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me as opposed to throwing these boys in jail for what they did to me, then I don't understand justice.

The terms of the deal haven't been released, but Dietrich felt the boys got off easy. When a plea deal is struck, a judge can accept its terms, reject them, or modify them.

I felt like they were given a very, very light deal, Dietrich said. I wasn't happy with it, at all.