“Nobody ever thinks that something like this will happen to them, until it does.”
It all started with a viral Instagram post that got over 13,000 likes and 1,000 comments. On March 3, Melanie Turner shared a five-page essay about her experience as a sexual assault victim. Her story started on Aug. 24, two days before the first day of the fall 2019 semester. Melanie planned on starting her first “sylly week” with a fun day out with new friends. Then, things went downhill.
After coming back to her room, intoxicated but still aware of herself and her surroundings, her roommate told her that her boyfriend and his friend, both United States Naval Academy students, were coming to stay the night.
“They suggested that he should sleep in my bed with me. I vividly remember saying ‘no’ to this, as I knew how drunk I was, and I was in a relationship at the time. I was ignored.”
Her roommate and her boyfriend left, leaving Melanie helpless with a stranger in her room. Despite telling him “no” multiple times, despite her cries to her roommate for help, she was left to fend for herself.
“I felt silenced, as if my voice and my humanity had been stripped away from me at the very moment he decided to strip my clothes off my body.”
The next morning, Melanie went to the University of Maryland Police Department and UM Prince George’s Hospital Center. She had a rape kit done; the police held her in a room for several hours away from her mom and closest friends, forcing her to retell her story to numerous officers. And throughout this whole process, she felt like no one was on her side.
“The criminal justice system treated me as if I was a suspect… I was poked and prodded in the hospital, waiting for what seemed like hours… There were many times when I asked [my roommate] if she thought I was doing the right thing, and she would simply tell me that ‘he has too much going for him’ and ‘has been through too much’ to suffer the consequences of his actions.”
The police treated her like she was too intoxicated to fully understand what happened that night. She was asked numerous times how much she had to drink that day and what she was wearing.
“These questions constantly reassured me that what happened was my fault.”
During her investigation, Melanie was given little to no information regarding her case. The lead detective left her in the dark for three months. Her calls and texts were left unanswered. In March, seven months after the assault, a woman Melanie had never met knocked on her door only to inform her that the state’s attorney dropped her case. Those words were the hardest for her to hear.
“I am heartbroken that a place I once dreamed of so quickly became a place of pain and hurt for me… I am heartbroken that he is walking free, yet I am left to pay the price of his actions every day.”
Melanie is from the Annapolis area where the Naval Academy is located, and she knows how honorable it is to be accepted into their prestigious program. Students who graduate from USNA go on to be high ranking officers in the U.S. military, holding significant power and authority.
“It was this knowledge that gave me the courage to come forward. I knew that if he was capable of sexually assaulting someone at this point in his life, I had to ask myself: ‘What would this man be capable of doing when he held a position of power within an organization that is designed to keep people like me safe?”
Melanie questioned who would speak up against him later if she didn’t speak up now. She questioned how she could feel safe with an individual like him who swore an oath to protect the people of this country. Melanie’s mother has always told her since she was young that everything happens for a reason.
“I hope that the reasoning behind everything that has happened to me is to protect an innocent girl somewhere, who this man may have eventually assaulted if I did not come forward to tell my story.”
While Melanie had the courage to press charges against her assailant, she wasn’t sure if she wanted her story to become public knowledge. She wrote her essay in December, planning to keep it for herself and her closest friends and family. But after she heard that her case had been closed, she felt more silenced than ever before.
“Posting that paper, for me, was a way to take my voice back and be my own advocate when UMPD or the university would not be that for me. When I felt that I was at a dead end, posting that gave me the exact opposite feeling. It opened so many doors for me with opportunities that I wouldn’t have had otherwise that I’m so beyond thankful for.”
Melanie used to wonder why people wouldn’t come forward with their own sexual assault stories, but after going through it herself she understands. She questioned whether she was doing the right thing for herself. She faced stigma, self-hatred, and victim blaming. But, Melanie has learned from her own story and hopes other people will find the courage to speak up.
“I just want young men and women who’ve gone through experiences similar to mine to know that they’re not alone… They are so incredibly loved.”
To read Melanie’s full essay, click here.