Doescher family legal fee help.

Hi, and thank you in advance for taking the time to read my story. I am fundraising for myself, for legal costs. My right to privacy has been completely taken away from me, by [redacted]. Please, I need to be able to hold these people/entities accountable.

My story is extremely complicated and we've had a difficult time finding legal help. We had an attorney, but can no longer afford to pay her. We desperately need your help. My rights have been violated by a man who is now a [redacted] violated by [redacted], and violated by [redacted]. We are hoping to hold these officials accountable.

In November of 2022, I requested, from the Westerly Police Department (WPD), a copy of a statement I had made in October of 2005, and copies of two statements I made in September of 2022. In response, the WPD instructed me to file an APRA request at the Westerly Town Hall.

My APRA request was initially denied by [redacted] because the documents are “personal individually identifiable records,” and that the release of them “would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy for those individuals referenced therein.” I was later contacted by the WPD and was told that I could pick up the records at the police station. I was informed that I hadn’t needed to submit that APRA request at town hall after all.

These records revolve around my sexual and physical abuse by [redacted] dating back to 2005. Due to the rules of GoFundMe, I will not elaborate on the details.

In 2022 I was faced with a real possibility that my rapist could be elected to my town council, so I decided to finally press charges. I provided medical records, therapist notes, and some journaling I had done, in addition to two statements given by me to the WPD. The WPD also had discovered a third statement I gave in 2005; a statement I had completely forgotten I had made. My story of what [redacted] did to me has not changed. They then sent all of that information to [redacted]

The AG's office sat on the file for several weeks, getting closer and closer to the election. I was regularly reaching out to the AG's office for updates. I finally heard from the WPD at the end of October. An officer informed me that the AG had declined my case due to a lack of probable cause. I decided to follow up with the AG for an explanation. [redacted] informed me of his feelings on the case as submitted to him. He mentioned how long it's been, and that it will be hard to prove. He felt that we must take into account how my rapist may have felt in that moment, "Did he think he was raping you?" [redacted] also suggested that "Maybe he's ([redacted]) into kinky stuff," implying that my pleas for [redacted] to not penetrate my anus were just part of the fun, that my pain was somehow illegitimate. Those are only a few reasons he gave for not taking my case, but I would go on to ask for the case to be reviewed by another person in the office. I never heard anything back. It was during that phone call with [redacted] that I shut down. I walked away. The state didn't care about me. Maybe nobody cared? My right to confront this man who had so violently abused me was taken from me. And through other requests by my former lawyer, the AG has continued to refuse to review the case.

In April of this year I was contacted on Facebook messenger by a woman I didn't know. She wanted to talk to me about [redacted], the man I accused of rape but had gotten nowhere. How did this woman have my name in connection with this man? She had heard that I filed a police report in regards to [redacted]. But the town told me my records were confidential, and my APRA request didn't mention [redacted] by name or any crime. She stated that a local attorney, [redacted], was trying to gather reports to show that [redacted] has a history of being aggressive and dangerous. She claimed there were "other reports."

I confronted [redacted] through Facebook in early May. He claimed that there were rumors flying around town that I had filed an APRA request. He also told me the rumor going around was that the report's contents were disturbing. He continued, many, many people have heard about these rumors.

After learning that information about me was being spread around town, I contacted a female town councilor, an old friend of my husband's family, [redacted]. I told her everything. She was appalled and wanted to help. I then submitted two more APRA requests in an attempt to figure out who leaked this personal information about me. I discovered nothing.

Private information that I had been told cannot be shared in an APRA request continued to swirl around town hall when [redacted] addressed the town council at a June 5th meeting. [redacted] stated that my husband (without using his name) refused to interview with [redacted] for a town subcommittee because [redacted] raped [redacted]. Process of elimination for this particular situation would make it very easy to figure out who [redacted] was, as he was the only person not interviewed for a committee position who received a seat. And [redacted] again said, [redacted] had raped me.

I was traumatized all over again when I heard [redacted] speak those words. It felt like my private information was being thrown around as political sabotage, to try and remove my rapist from office. [redacted] gave enough information in that statement for people to figure out and confirm that I am in fact the victim.

At this time, and likely before, [redacted] began publicly claiming that I was wrong, that he was unaware of any sexual assault claim against him, which is a lie. He would then begin saying that the case had been investigated and he was found to be innocent. He claims that my accusations were baseless. He keeps lying and contradicting himself.

This is my truth; [redacted] raped me. He hurt me mentally and physically over the period of several months. I pleaded with him to stop but I felt trapped by him physically, and also by my situation being a young woman who's housing was being paid for by the Department of Children Youth and Families. I didn't know if I could leave my lease, and I didn't know who to go to for help. Eventually I was able to break my year-long lease after only 5 months of living there, with the help of the woman who ran the program I was in.

[redacted] continues to spread false stories about me and the case against him. He claims that he did nothing wrong, and that the whole thing is just some made up political attack.

On June 14th of this year, [redacted], with councilor [redacted] along for support, met with town manager [redacted] and town council [redacted]. ([redacted] has since resigned from the council, and [redacted] will fill the vacant seat on August 21,2023, as he was the runner up in the last election.) While the four talked about the leak of my information, [redacted] admitted to telling [redacted], one week before [redacted] was sworn in, that [redacted] had been accused of rape and the case had been sent to the Attorney General.

Upon receiving this confidential information as a private citizen, [redacted] called three future councilors to warn them that the “victim” may show up at the swearing in ceremony. [redacted], [redacted], and [redacted] are the three future councilors [redacted] called.

[redacted], and it would turn out, the [redacted] who signed off on my report of rape in 2005, has admitted to sharing this information with [redacted]. What happened after [redacted] shared this information has turned my life into a literal nightmare and set all of what has happened since into motion. People would be so determined to find out who the victim was, that, according to [redacted], someone went to the great lengths of hiring a private investigator to find me. I cannot even begin to explain how invading that feels. I was already extremely worried about my and my family's safety from [redacted]. And then when I found out that people were actively trying to figure out who I was, I realized that privacy no longer existed for me or my family. People just wanted to out me as [redacted] rape victim. And they did.

On July 24th, 2023 I went to the town council meeting and I spoke. I publicly accused [redacted] and [redacted] of leaking information from my police statements - statements that town hall wouldn't even give to me. [redacted] and [redacted] stopped me from speaking before I was able to finish the speech I had prepared. Video footage of this exists on the Town of Westerly's website, and also on their Facebook page.

The Westerly Sun printed an article the next day, which I will link here:

https://www.thewesterlysun.com/news/westerly/westerly-town-councilors-accuser-speaks-out-at-meeting-morrone-apologizes-for-outburst-and-discourse/article_07f39e8c-2a9c-11ee-b60c-2ba577c73227.html

At the next town council meeting on August 7th, a local therapist would get up to the podium wishing to speak on the matter of confidentiality, and they did not let her speak at all. They cited that they have received a request from [redacted], asking that the town council not let this matter be discussed publicly. The town has infringed on my rights, and now other members of the community are not being allowed to speak on this issue as well. This is a right to freedom of speech as much as also a right to confidentiality. [redacted] seems hell-bent on violating both.

When will anyone be concerned about my rights? Everyone seems so concerned about [redacted], about his rights. What about mine? When do I get my day in court? When do I get to talk?

I need help. My story is so much longer than this. We need legal help. But we can't afford the costs anymore.

Please, if you have anything to give, we would appreciate it more than we could ever express. Thank you.