Allegations of rape are nothing to scoff at. Rape and sexual assault are particularly dangerous occurrences in industries that maintain a male-dominated hierarchy. That’s why the Virginia court was willing to listen to former West Point cadet Susan Shannon when she accused one of her former classmates of raping her when she was a youngster at the military academy back in 1986. Now the accused has risen to a position of prominence in the Army as a colonel while Shannon has wallowed in grief from the alleged sex crime that left her traumatized and broken.
However, a Virginia court has decided that Shannon’s story was not true. Instead of supporting the alleged victim of rape, the court turned the tables on Shannon and found her guilty of defamation, demanding that she pay a staggering ransom to her accuser. A jury in Fairfax County jury ruled in favor of Col. David “Wil” Riggins and ordered Shannon, the alleged victim of rape, to pay him a staggering $8.4 million for defamation.
Riggins filed a retaliatory lawsuit against his rape accuser when he learned that her story prevented him from getting a promotion. He was on track to become a one-star general but was overlooked when Shannon’s claims were made public. Now he has used the power at his disposal to crush his accuser in court, which may have forever ruined her financial life.
According to the lawsuit: “The allegations of rape were investigated by U.S. Army [Criminal Investigation Command], and it was determined that there was no testimonial or physical evidence to corroborate Defendant Susan Shannon’s statements concern, Colonel David W. Riggins.”
A blog post entitled “Short Little Rebel” describes how Riggins allegedly took advantage of Shannon after she drank too much beer at Eisenhower Hall and blacked out from the alcohol. When he found her in a vulnerable state, Shannon claims that the Colonel raped her without remorse.
“I felt the need to tell the story about a rape of a soldier I personally know: that soldier is me,” the post read. “The man who raped me, Will riggings [sic], class of 1987, is now a Colonel in the Army. The rape is the reason I left West Point. So, while his military career is soaring, I left mine far behind.”
However, Riggins claims that Shannon’s story could not be true. Not only was beer forbidden on campus at the time, but he also did not have a vehicle to drive her home that night.
“When pressed on the details as to what happened, Susan Shannon does not state that she actually recalls the alleged rape by David W. Riggins,” the lawsuit stated.” Rather, she only asserts that she woke up the next morning and concluded that she had sexual intercourse with someone the night before.”
Instead, Riggins admitted that he dated Shannon before she left West Point to pursue a medical degree.
The court decided that Shannon must pay $3.4 million in compensation to the colonel as well as $5 million in damages due to her libelous claims. However, her attorneys are planning an appeal, and the most she is likely to pay is no more than $2.3 million.
