In the wake of recent reports about Nate Parker's 1999 sexual assault case, the Birth of a Nation actor and director has responded to news that his accuser killed herself in 2012.
In a statement posted on Facebook Tuesday night, Parker wrote that he wasn't aware of the accuser's suicide, but was saddened to hear of her passing.
“I myself just learned that the young woman ended her own life several years ago and I am filled with profound sorrow… I can’t tell you how hard it is to hear this news,” Parker wrote. “I cannot — nor do I want to — ignore the pain she endured during and following our trial. While I maintain my innocence that the encounter was unambiguously consensual, there are things more important than the law.”
The woman, referred to as Jane Doe in most court documents, accused Parker and Birth of a Nation 's co-writer Jean Celestin of raping her while all three were students at Penn State. Parker was acquitted of the rape charges, but the woman's suit against the school for violating Title IX (a gender discrimination law that affects federally funded colleges) alleged that both men also harassed her during and following the legal process.
The woman's brother spoke to Variety about her mental state after the rape, and in the years leading up to her suicide. "She became detached from reality," her brother, identified as Johnny, told Variety. "The progression was very quick and she took her life."
Parker's rape charge has come under new scrutiny as his film The Birth of a Nation emerges as an awards season frontrunner.
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