Like many women, the MeToo movement gave Nanny Dawn the strength to break her silence.
Known for her time on Southern Charm, she filed a complaint with the Charleston police in May of this year, and then went public with her allegation that in 2015, Thomas Ravenel raped her while his young child slept in the next room.
In filing her complaint, Nanny Dawn wasn’t expecting to get justice, because she didn’t think her case would ever go to court. But she did hope to be an example for other women, as a very public sexual assault victim, she hoped to inspire other victims to come forward and speak out.
Nanny Dawn took on someone with fame and fortune, a member of an old Charleston family with connections, a favorite cast member of a reality show, and she won. She didn’t back down. And she won. Thomas Ravenel, was arrested for second degree assault and battery this morning. He will stand trial and faces several years in prison.
The arrest was a very satisfying and long awaited finale to this season of Southern Charm. Even Rapey McRapenel’s personal blog, All About The Tea, reported on the arrest and actually managed to do it without blaming or slut shaming the victim. Yet.
Like many assault victims, Nanny Dawn kept silent about the assault, she felt humiliated and was afraid of what Ravenel might do in retaliation if she went to the police. Plus, she was on a reality show and didn’t want her assault to become a story line for Southern Charm.
Fortunately, she didn’t keep it a total secret. After the assault, she called her husband, sister, and daughter and told each of them what happened. When she got home, her daughter took pictures of the scratches on her body. Nanny Dawn also told Will Folks of fitsnews.com about the assault.
So with the inspiration of the MeToo movement, after 3 years of silence, Nanny Dawn filed a complaint with the Charleston police in May. This started an investigation which resulted in Ravenel’s arrest today.
You’ll notice that instead of rape, Ravenel was charged with second degree assault and battery. That charge covers when a perpetrator “touches the victim’s private parts, injures the victim or threatens or attempts to injure the victim”. Rape is a hard crime to prove after 3 years, particularly when the accused can afford a good defense attorney. The evidence Nanny Dawn provided and their investigation was enough probable cause to make an arrest.
Of course, he is innocent until proven guilty, but we await the scheduling of Rapey McRapenel’s court dates with anticipation.
