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The Plot Thickens As Thomas Ravenel’s Accuser Turns On Second Reported Victim

By Amy Feinstein
Published on: 15:57 PST, Sep 30, 2018

This week the matter of Southern Charm star Thomas Ravenel and rape accusations took a strange turn when Ashley Perkins, the woman who broke the story initially in April, made a public statement about the second accuser, Nanny Dawn, claiming that she had discrepancies in her story. But this week, Ravenel was arrested and charge based on the investigation into Nanny Dawn’s allegations after they downloaded pictures, texts, and emails from an old phone the Ravenel family nanny had at the time of her alleged assault.

Will Folks of FitsNews said that on April 14, Ashley Perkins revealed that her mother settled with Thomas Ravenel for $200,000 after he met her on Tinder and allegedly sexually assaulted her. Perkins said that her mother hired famed feminist attorney Gloria Allred who negotiated the deal with a gag order for the mother, but Perkins didn’t sign, and wanted people to know what the one-time politician had done to her mother.

In May, Nanny Dawn, who appeared on the second and third season of Southern Charm as the nanny to Ravenel’s first child with co-star Kathryn Dennis, came forward to say that while working for the family, Ravenel allegedly assaulted her.

Nanny Dawn said she was emboldened by Perkins, sharing her mother’s story, and found comfort in discussing the matter privately in conversations with Perkins. Dawn explained she could no longer stay quiet.

“This is the most difficult thing I’ve ever done, and I don’t even know if he (Ravenel) will be charged, but I need to let others know they aren’t alone.”

Next, Luzanne Otte, who dated Ravenel briefly in the summer of 2017, told her story of Ravenel, saying it was as if a switch flipped, which was very similar to what Dawn had explained.

Fast forward to this week, and the Charleston Police had been investigating Nanny Dawn’s accusations for four months, which led to Ravenel’s arrest. But 48 hours after the arrest, Ashley Perkins, who had disappeared from social media for months, made a statement out of the blue claiming that she had questions about Dawn’s allegations, shocking fans who had followed the story intently.

“Regarding the arrest of Thomas Ravenel I want to state that the alleged victim contacted me before she went to (police),” she wrote. “We talked around 20 (hours). Her story to me regarding Thomas has no resemblance to the police report (and) her interviews with media. I have informed the police and (Ravenel’s) attorneys.”

Where was the disconnect? Well, seemingly, it isn’t a case of disbelief or allegations of lying, but rather a lack of understanding about what the law calls rape, says People Magazine. Perkins said that Dawn’s story sounded like assault to her and not rape, but the word “rape” was never used by Nanny Dawn until the Charleston Detective explained to her that rape was not just being violated vaginally with someone’s penis. They told her that whether an attacker uses their hands, their mouth, a foreign object, or their genitals, it can be rape.

So while Perkins wasn’t claiming that Nanny Dawn wasn’t assaulted, she had trouble with the verbiage and yet seemingly attacked a victim, and Twitter wasn’t having it.

“Seriously.. any guesses on how much Ashley Perkins sold her soul for? I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand why she would defend the same man she claimed raped her own mother, what a disgusting POS!!!”

Others took a strong stand against the victim shaming, blocking Perkins, who now seemed to be siding with her mother’s alleged attacker.

“Just saw it, I unfollowed Ashley Perkins and blocked her. What an awful thing to do to a victim, she’s trying to make a buck any way she can since her cough cough *modeling* career hasn’t taken off. She’s not model material.”

The majority of Southern Charm fans have come out stronger than ever in support of Nanny Dawn, and assume that the charges against Ravenel, who had to surrender his passport, will be increased at his next hearing in November.

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