Sheriff Opie then gave Lila the floor. She walked up to the podium and faced the crowd of reporters and curious onlookers.
"I don't need to introduce myself, as most people know who I am. When I was 18 years old, I was raped by Tom Boils. I met him at the race track during the Memorial Day races in Charlotte. I went to a party with him. He later raped me. I thought I was going to die. I was beaten and choked to the point where I passed out. When I woke up, former race car driver Markus Welts was on top of me, raped me and beat me senseless. I was taken to the hospital with serious injuries. I had two black eyes, a broken jaw and some broken bones in my cheek bone. I also had bruises all over my body, including cigarette burns. I broke a couple of ribs as well. It took me a couple of months to physically recover from the injuries but the emotional and mental wounds took a lot longer.
I was lucky that I had a support system which was what kept my sanity. The town support was also helpful when these two came to town and threatened me and my mom. Sadly I didn't get the same support in Charlotte where a hung jury wouldn't convict even though people on the jury said that they believed that I was raped and assaulted but they couldn't convict Tom Boils or Markus Welts. They wouldn't even look at me in the court room. I knew at that point that there was no conviction. This never made sense to me.
I also would like address some things which were said about me by a couple of Congressmen and Senators. First of all these individuals know nothing about rape unless they have experienced it themselves. It's very easy for someone to say how they think you should act and feel. Because rape is a different for every victim, their reaction to what happened to them is different. Some individuals are crying and hysterical. Others are quiet. This is the same reaction when they have a rape kit done. The experience is horrible and traumatic regardless of one's sexual history or experiences. Women who have experienced this have had their relationship broken and their marriages ended over this. This is just the rape itself which caused this. "
Lila remembered when they had to sedate her when they did the rape examination. She was shaking and trembling and tears came down her cheeks. As she was talking about this, a tear came down both her cheeks.
"My talent in acting is what helped me. It was like therapy to me. When I went off to college at the North Carolina College of Arts to study I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. It was a toss up between being a dancer and being an actress. During my four years there I often and still play characters who were victims of violence. I played the roles very well because I knew their experiences. I've won an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for playing the role of a holocaust survivor who was repeatedly raped and beaten by her captors. I will end my comments by saying these incidences shouldn't have been made into a political or social issue.
The onlookers clapped after Lila left the podium.
Two years later the story was made into a movie with Lila playing herself. She received numerous awards for her performance.
The end