Savannah Dietrich defies judge by tweeting names of boys who sexually assaulted her

Savannah Dietrich, a 17-year-old from Louisville, Kentucky, was sexually assaulted by two boys in August 2011 after she passed out from drinking at a gathering. She learned months later that photographs of the assault had been taken and shared with others.

"For months, I cried myself to sleep. I couldn't go out in public places," she told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "You just sit there and wonder, who saw the pictures, who knows?"

On June 26, 2012, the two boys pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual abuse and misdemeanor voyeurism. Dietrich felt the plea deal was a slap on the wrist, and said she learned of the agreement only just before it was announced in court. The presiding judge, Dee McDonald, then barred everyone from speaking about the case, including Dietrich herself.

That evening, in defiance of the order, Dietrich tweeted the names of her attackers: "Will Frey and Austin Zehnder sexually assaulted me." Then: "There you go, lock me up. I'm not protecting anyone that made my life a living Hell."

The boys' attorneys moved to have her held in contempt, which carried a possible 180 days in jail and a $500 fine. Dietrich waived her own confidentiality, spoke to the Courier-Journal with her parents' permission, and had her attorney, Emily Farrar-Crockett, argue that she had a First Amendment right to tell her own story and to an open hearing.

"So many of my rights have been taken away by these boys," she said. "I'm at the point that if I have to go to jail for my rights, I will do it. If they really feel it's necessary to throw me in jail for talking about what happened to me — as opposed to throwing those boys in jail for what they did to me — then I don't understand justice."

On Monday, July 23, attorney David Mejia told the Associated Press that prosecutors were dropping all contempt charges against Dietrich. More than 62,000 people had signed a petition urging that she be kept out of jail. The boys were still to be sentenced the following month, and the judge could reject or modify the terms of the plea deal.

The case became a flashpoint for the question of whether a judge can silence a victim about her own assault — and whether the First Amendment protects her right to name the people who harmed her.