The woman who accused William Kennedy Smith of raping her told a counselor she feared "reprisals" against her or her daughter by the powerful Kennedy family if she reported the March 30 incident, court papers showed Friday.
The information was in a statement given to defense and prosecuting attorneys by Denny Abbott, a counselor in West Palm Beach, who talked to the woman shortly after the alleged crime."She was very fearful of reprisals," Abbott said. "She kept constantly talking about being fearful of being hurt and having her daughter hurt. That was her primary concern."
Abbott said he believed the woman was telling the truth but told police he could not rule out the possibility she was lying.
The 29-year-old Jupiter, Fla., woman says she was raped by Smith, a nephew of Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Edward Kennedy, at the Kennedy estate in the early morning hours of March 30 after Smith grabbed her near the estate's swimming pool.