It has been awhile since we heard anything about the lawsuit brought by Katelynn Dunlap against Vance Phillips seeking some accountability for raping her. We talked about this multiple times here at DL, but see here, here, here and here for a good recap.) Updating the story, Ms Dunlap has filed a stipulation of dismissal for the civil action filed against Phillips in Kent County court. This isn’t quite the end of the story though. Ms. Dunlap took to the airwaves Wednesday to talk about this and released a statement about her decision to both the media and her Facebook page. This is what she published to Facebook:
There is really no non-blunt way to say any of this, but this is a part of who I am and I am not afraid of it, so here it goes…
As many of you already know, I was sexually assaulted and raped the spring and summer of my senior year of high school by a family friend and a local politician, Vance Philips. This former Sussex County Councilman befriended me, groomed me, gained my trust, and used that trust to put me in a situation where I was completely vulnerable and then attacked me. He orchestrated the attacks as well as their cover up and threatened me into silence. After breaking that silence, I diligently sought justice through the criminal justice system, but was told by the Attorney General’s office that he would not be prosecuted criminally at this time. In order to obtain justice, and to shed light on what happened, I chose the only other legal option open to me and that was filing a civil lawsuit. After almost three years, I have decided to dismiss this lawsuit with no payment or compensation of any kind.
Filing this suit was about me, my family and my healing, as well as showing the community who Vance Phillips truly is and holding him accountable. I felt it my responsibility to myself, to my community and the other women in this state to bring light to the fact that Vance Phillips raped me; that he is a rapist. Through this lawsuit I was able to do not only this, but also was able to face him through depositions and look him in the eye, and I was able to begin to heal and have been blessed in life tremendously along the way. No one will ever know how hard it has been for me to get to where I am today and I still have a long way to go. I still live with the pain, the nightmares, the anxiety and depression, but through facing what happened I have been able to begin to heal and gain strength. I am taking back control of my life and moving on from this is a big part of that. I do not need a judge or a jury to tell me what happened. I know that Vance Phillips raped me and the community now knows too. I am coming to terms with this and I am healing. I am still hopeful that one day he will pay criminally for what he did, but in the mean time I will continue to work towards my own healing and work to help other women who have been victims to have the confidence and support to come forward and seek justice and healing for themselves.
Vance Phillips fought to have the court filings protected and confidential and I opposed that and wanted the case to be open to the public. To this day he pleads the fifth amendment for fear of self-incrimination and has never denied raping me. I will always fight for justice, I will always fight for truth and I stand by every single one of my statements and accusations. Vance Phillips chose to hide behind the fifth amendment. He was given the opportunity to speak and defend himself but instead, when asked if he raped me, he turned his eyes away and plead the fifth amendment. May the record speak for itself.
I want to thank each and every one of you who has stood by and supported me over the past several years. Your support and love means the world to me and I would not be where I am today without it. I also want to thank my family and my wonderful husband. We fought for justice, but ultimately, it is all in God’s hands. The only judgement that counts now is the final and most serious. On that day, there will be no fifth amendment to invoke. On that day, justice will prevail.
Fierce. Clear-eyed and unflinching. Make note of the point that he won’t deny raping her — he just wants the proceedings to be closed. From where I sit, the injustice here is that she had to work so hard to get the system to work for her. The AGs office wasn’t helpful (and what does that mean for other women with sexual assault complaints?) and was apparently defeated in the effort to keep the civil proceedings open, where he couldn’t hide from the charges. It looks to me like she was failed at every turn here, but has pretty clearly had the last word. Here’s to hoping that Phillips can’t hide from this and that this statement is what comes up when people Google his name now. Here’s to hoping that because of this, he’ll keep a very low profile and certainly stay out of government.
Here’s a challenge to our local Year of the Woman candidates — let’s have a conversation about changes to Delaware law so that it is more responsive to the need for justice for rape victims, ok?