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William Kennedy Smith Faces Civil Lawsuit Alleging Rape

By Jeralyn, Section Crime in the News
Posted on Thu Aug 26, 2004 at 07:25:43 AM EST
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How coincidental. Two weeks after the accuser in the Kobe Bryant case sues the athlete for damages in civil court from an alleged sexual assault, a former personal assistant to William Kennedy Smith does the same--for an incident that allegedly occurred in 1999.

In the lawsuit, the 28-year-old woman alleges that after a night of drinking in 1999, Kennedy Smith forced her out of a cab and into his Chicago home where he raped her. The woman is Kennedy Smith's former personal assistant.

The allegations are "outrageous, untrue and without merit," William Kennedy Smith said in a statement. "Unfortunately, my family and my personal history have made me unusually vulnerable to these kinds of allegations," Kennedy Smith, 43, said in the statement.

Kennedy Smith is a medical doctor in Chicago.

Like many of the Kennedy clan, William Kennedy Smith has been involved in public service and was the founder of Physicians Against Landmines, a group that later became part of the Center for International Rehabilitation. Smith remains active as chairman of the group, which works with Northwestern University and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago to help the disabled in the world's poorest countries.

Update: According to the accuser's lawyer, she dated Kennedy Smith after the incident and engaged in consensual relations with him numerous times....also according to her lawyer, the sexual assault consisted of "digital penetration."

He said the continued contact between the two was typical behavior in cases of "acquaintance rape."

Kennedy Smith says the accuser demanded $3 million which she refused.

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