The Bachelor Caelynn Sexual Assault Story

The Bachelor Caelynn Sexual Assault Story

TRIGGER WARNING: This article includes details of sexual assault.

Last week on The Bachelor, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, a 23-year-old from Charlotte, NC opened up about her sexual assault on a date with Colton, the bachelor. She is Miss North Carolina 2018, and has graduated Virginia Commonwealth University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism.

Caelynn and Colton Underwood sat down for a dinner date after a long day of shopping at high-end stores, and talked about her story. She described her assault as something that will always be apart of her. She also describes her assault as being a difficult topic in her previous relationships, having troubles with intimacy, and her unfortunate struggles with shame and guilt surrounding her attack, as well as her suffering from PTSD months after.

4 years ago, when Caelynn was a sophomore in college, she and her girlfriends went to a friend’s house for a party. While there, she said that their drinks were drugged. She says she recalls waking up the next morning naked in her bed with no memory of the night before except for a man in her bed. It wasn’t until her sober friend called her to say that they had all been drugged and assaulted. That is when she came to remember what had happened to her. After attacking her, her friend said that one of the men and his fraternity brothers lifted up her dress and took pictures and snapchat videos of her genitalia. Looking back on her assault, she says that although she is still dealing with the traumatic event, it made her the person she is today and that she still tries to be the happy, goofy and a fun person she is.

The next day she immediately told the police and tried to get a rape kit done but the hospital turned her away, which is illegal. After going to another hospital the results of the rape kit was deemed inconclusive because so much time had passed. Her mom found out one day and that was when she opened up and told her parents everything that had happened, as she had been ashamed to talk about it before. Her family contacted her college’s dean and met with an attorney. She says that regrets not telling her sooner. Most of the attackers got away with it except for one who was merely expelled from the school.

During the time Caelynn was talking about her assault, Colton was very attentive and empathic. He offered her reassurance that she is safe with him. And she thanked him for handling it well. Colton hugged her and then brought up his own experience with being in a relationship with someone who had been sexually assaulted; his ex-girlfriend Aly Raisman, a two-time Olympic gymnast, who had been sexually abused by Larry Nassar. And he tells her how strong she is for telling her story.

Twitter responses

The official Bachelor twitter:

Colton’s response,

Caelynn’s response,

This section of the show ABC and The Bachelor decided to team up with an organization called RAINN (Rape Abuse and Incest National Network)  to help victims of sexual assault. After the segment was over, ABC showed an image from RAINN to help spread awareness.

To watch part of the conversation, click here.

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