Another woman has come forward, accusing Thomas Ravenel of sexual assault. The Ravenel’s former nanny, Dawn Ledwell, claims in a new interview that the reality star strangled & raped her with his child nearby.
Dawn Ledwell, 43, known as “Nanny Dawn” to fans of the Bravo reality show Southern Charm, has accused her former boss, reality star and former politician Thomas Ravenel, 55, of raping her in January 2015. Describing the alleged assault as “traumatic,” Dawn claimed to DailyMail TV that Thomas “ripped” her clothes off, choked her, and left scratches all over her body — all while his baby daughter Kensington, now 4, slept in the next room.
After years of living in fear and silence, Dawn filed a report with the Charleston, North Carolina Police Department on May 7, according to DailyMail who has reportedly seen the documents. Thomas is reportedly being charged with Forcible Rape in the first degree, which is a felony that carries a penalty of up to 30 years imprisonment in his home state of South Carolina.
Speaking with HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY, a spokesperson for Charleston Police Department told us, “A woman made a complaint to Charleston Police Department on May 7, claiming she was sexually assaulted by Thomas Ravenel in January 2015. The alleged assault occurred at a property located at 29 1/2 Charlotte Street in Charleston, South Carolina. The investigation is ongoing.” Dawn is the second woman to accuse Thomas of sexual assault. In fact, it was hearing the first woman’s story that inspired Dawn to come forward with her own.
“I don’t really want to go into all the details of what happened. It was very traumatic for me,” Dawn told the media outlet. “I felt so humiliated especially when he was ripping my clothes off, you know I was a bigger girl back then — almost 100 pounds bigger — and he’s torn my clothes off and I’m just so mortified thinking am I going to run outside in this very upscale neighborhood in the freezing January without my clothes on?”
The alleged attack happened late one night after Thomas returned home from dinner with friends, Dawn claims. “I had just finished making baby food and was drying baby bottles.” Dawn says Thomas then turned off the lights and attempted to kiss her. “I turned my head because I didn’t want him to do that. He tried to hug me and my hands were full, I had the baby bottles, so I couldn’t push him away but I told him, ‘No.’” Soon after, things quickly turned violent, according to Dawn.
“I was corralled into the master bedroom and he shut the door behind me. I turned around and he had his pants dropped, not wearing underwear,” Dawn told People magazine. “He was blocking the door. I was mortified, embarrassed, and scared.” The former nanny added, “I was unsure what to do because Kensie was sleeping very close by.”
After the alleged incident was over, and Dawn left, she says she immediately called her daughter, her sister, and her husband. “There are just no words for what I felt at that time,” she told DM. Dawn also claims Thomas strangled her with her own T-shirt as she tried to escape him during the attack. She said she was left scratched and with marks on her arms, back, throat, and between her legs.
The other woman Thomas allegedly assaulted is Debbie Holloway Perkins. Debbie’s daughter, Ashley Perkins, is the one who recently came forward with the allegations against Thomas. Ashely has claimed that Thomas paid her mother $200,000 to sign an NDA after he allegedly sexually assaulted her in December 2015. After hearing Debbie’s story, Dawn realized she wasn’t alone. “I was outraged because I found out then that I was not an isolated incident. I had blamed myself, like many victims do, [but I realized then] that it wasn’t my fault. It was his fault. He’s the perpetrator,” she said.
Meanwhile, a source close to Thomas reportedly told DM that the reality star is “at a loss” when it comes to these sexual assault allegations. “[Thomas] doesn’t understand why Dawn would say these things,” the source said. “To bring a claim of forcible rape — I don’t think she could have picked a worse charge to level at any person. There aren’t words to express what he’s going through right now.”
The source continued, “I think we’re all struggling to make sense of how somebody can just walk into a police station, fill out a form, without anything to substantiate the claims and suddenly a man’s life is hanging in the balance.” The source also claims Thomas is “staring down the barrel of bankruptcy,” as finances for three major projects may not be extended as long as the threat of criminal charges linger.
“This isn’t just about him. Everything Thomas does is for his children’s future and security and this puts all that in jeopardy,” the source explained. “It’s a kind of torture. The longer this drags on the more damage is done in the name of allegations that are completely untrue.”
The source concluded, “Thomas’s attitude right now is, ‘charge me or clear me’ because right now in effect he’s being publicly nailed to the cross, prosecuted and judged without any due process at all.”
While Dawn hopes she’ll have her day in court, she isn’t holding her breath. “Although I believe he should be in jail for his crimes, the reality according to statistics is that he will go unpunished,” Dawn told People. “I feel the only justice I will receive is to share my story in the efforts to educate the public and support assault survivors.”
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