Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY 29August2015

A4
U.S. NEWSSaturday 29 August 2015
Former prep school student convicted of sex charges
LYNNE TUOHY
Associated Press
CONCORD, New Hamp-
shire (AP) — A graduate of
an exclusive New England
prep school was cleared
of felony rape but con-
victed of misdemeanor
sex offenses Friday against
a 15-year-old girl in a case
that exposed a campus
tradition in which the old-
est students competed to
see how many younger
students they could have
sex with.
Nineteen-year-old Owen
Labrie was accused of
forcing himself on the girl
in a dark and noisy me-
chanical room at St. Paul’s
School two days before he
graduated in 2014.
He wept upon hearing the
verdict.
Labrie, who was bound for
Harvard, was acquitted
of the most serious charg-
es against him — three
counts of felony rape,
each punishable by 10 to
20 years in prison — but
was found guilty of three

Attorney J.W. Carney puts his arm around Owen Labrie, as he weeps in court after his verdict is 11 years in prison at sen-
read at Merrimack County Superior Court on Friday, Aug. 28, 2015 in Concord, N.H. Labrie was tencing Oct. 29. He will
cleared of felony rape but convicted of misdemeanor sex offenses Friday against a 15-year-old also have to register as a
girl in a case that exposed a campus tradition in which the oldest students competed to see sex offender for the rest of
how many younger students they could have sex with. Each count carries up to a year behind his life. The 159-year-old
bars. Labrie could get as much as 11 years in prison at sentencing Oct. 29. He will also have to boarding school has long
register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. (Geoff Forester/The Concord Monitor via AP, Pool) been a training ground
for politicians, Nobel lau-
counts of misdemeanor offenses. a year behind bars. Lab- reates, corporate execu-
tives and other members
sexual assault and other Each count carries up to rie could get as much as of the country’s elite.
Alumni include Secretary
of State John Kerry. Stu-
dents pay $53,810 a year
in tuition, room and board.
Labrie, an aspiring minister,
testified that he stopped
short of intercourse be-
cause he suddenly decid-
ed “it wouldn’t have been
a good choice for me.”
In his testimony, Labrie ac-
knowledged bragging to
friends that he had inter-
course with the girl, but he
said that was a lie told to
impress them. He also ad-
mitted deleting 119 Face-
book messages, including
one in which he boasted
that he “pulled every trick
in the book” to have sex
with her.q