I am scrolling through BuzzFeed just glancing over the articles, when one, in particular, grabs my attention. Under the trending section, it reads "A College Student Accused A Powerful Man Of Rape. Then She Became A Suspect." That title alone was enough for me to not only click on it, but have my blood start to boil. I didn't want to rush to judgments before even reading the article, so I put all preconceived notions aside and started to read. However, it didn't take long for those feelings to come rushing back.
In Tuscaloosa, Alabama, a 20-year-old college honors student, Megan Rondini, went to the police to report a rape by 34-year-old "prominent figure" T.J. Bunn Jr., son of an influential Tuscaloosa family who owns a big construction company. While walking home alone drunk one night in late July of 2015, she found herself being offered a ride by Bunn in his slick white Mercedes.
Later, when reporting the incident to the police, Rondini told them she didn't remember how she ended up in the car. She found herself being brought to Bunn's big plantation-style mansion, rather than being brought back to her place. The mansion, filled with Bunn's prizes from hunting, was enough to terrify anyone. By the time she was brought upstairs and pointed to the bedroom, she was sober enough to realize what was happening.
Bunn told her he wanted sex, even after Rondini told him she should leave several times and find her friends. Too scared to resist or say anything else, she tried to politely explain to him that she needed to leave repeatedly. Of course, not listening to her, Bunn "didn't really take that" and brought her to the bed and proceeded to have intercourse with Rondini.
Rondini "verbally informed Bunn she did not want to have sex with him," but unfortunately ignored her words and continued on with having sex with Rondini. Bunn, being drunk himself, passed out after he was done and Rondini found herself actually not able to get out of his room. Frantically texting her friends around 1 a.m. for help. She then proceeded to actually climb out of his second-story window when she realized she didn't have her keys.
She had to climb back into his room to look for them, but with no luck, went over to his Mercedes and looked around in there. She found his wallet and pistol in the car and took $3 in case she needed a cab and the pistol for "safety," which she later told investigators. Her friend eventually ended up taking the gun because she couldn't handle it and proceeded to the hospital.
She did everything right, she got a rape exam, and proceeded to the authorities afterward and told them everything. However, it was there she realized that things were actually being turned around onto her. Questioning her instead on the gun, how she willingly had drunk alcohol and since she "never kicked him or hit him or tried to resist him" it wasn't going to be considered rape.
After being interrogated instead, she wanted to just drop the charges and forget everything. Roughly 40% of people who reported sexual assault in Tuscaloosa from 2011-16 officially dropped their charges.
After finding out it was no longer safe in Tuscaloosa for her, since everyone was tied to Bunn's family, she withdrew from the university. Rondini was newly diagnosed with PTSD and depression, which only grew worse. Eventually, it got so bad she hung herself.
If one, just one, authority figure had believed her or told her they wanted to help, maybe all of this could have been avoided. I really don't understand why we are continuing to hear more and more stories like this. Where women actually go to the authorities for help, and it seems like they do everything right, but are instead, treated as if they were the ones who were in the wrong.
Our country needs to change its mindset on how we treat and handle cases like Rondini's. Women are treated as second-class citizens and if there is a rich white male involved, there's no hope. Even if cases like this are brought to court, we are hearing more on judges who will treat the victims like it's their fault.
My stomach is sick just reading this story and my heart, thoughts, and prayers go out to Megan Rondini's family. Megan hid her depression from her family and friends and nobody realized how much she had been impacted until it was too late. If you know anyone who has been sexually assaulted, don't be afraid to talk to them about it. Even if they seem okay by it, they could be hiding their fear and sadness from you.
