Woman wrongly identified
Reed Holmes
Covers.com has learned that a woman depicted in photos circulating across the Internet is being incorrectly identified as the 19-year-old college student who has accused Kobe Bryant of sexual assault.
Covers.com obtained photos of a woman identified as the victim through the popular peer-to-peer file-sharing software Kazaa. According to information associated with the photos, the woman?s name is Katelyn Faber.
Covers.com has learned that the woman in the photo is not the alleged victim. The woman who is being wrongly identified is also 19 years old, has the same first name and attended the same high school as the accuser in Colorado.
The Rocky Mountain News has reported that the woman who has been incorrectly identified has hired a lawyer to try to stop the spread of the photo.
Earlier this week, "shock jock" Tom Leykis identified Faber as the accuser on his syndicated radio show from Los Angeles. Message boards across North America are repeating her name, including boards on ESPN.com.
?We?re told that rape is violence, not sex, and if that?s true there?s no reason she should feel shame or embarrassment,? Leykis said.
Dr. Patricia Saunders, director of Graham Windham Manhattan Medical Center in New York City, was upset with Leykis's disclosure. ?It?s an intrusion. It?s an utter violation of her right to privacy. It?s a sadistic thing to do,? Dr. Saunders told NBC.
According to media reports, the accuser is a college student who was working for the summer as a concierge and receptionist at the Lodge & Spa at the Cordillera, an exclusive mountain resort near Vail, Colorado.
Bryant, 24, arrived at the spa on June 30, the night the alleged incident took place. He was in Colorado to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee by Vail specialist Dr. Richard Steadman.
The Los Angeles Times reported that hotel employees saw Bryant talking and flirting with the alleged victim when he checked into the hotel. Employees then say the accuser, after getting off duty at 11 p.m., went to Bryant?s room sometime before midnight.
The New York Post reported that the accuser was summoned to Bryant?s room for an after-hours call for room service.
A hotel employee told the L.A. Times that security, responding to complaints of noise from other hotel guests, went to Bryant?s room after midnight on July 1.
Denver television station KUSA reported that witnesses told investigators the woman appeared distressed as she left Bryant's room. Bryant, on the other hand, looked calm and composed as he talked to hotel employees immediately after the incident, according to the Denver Post.
The alleged victim graduated last year from Eagle Valley Senior High, then began working at the hotel after finishing her freshman year at the University of Northern Colorado.
Friends say she is a former high-school cheerleader who is a good singer and pianist. She once tried out for the television show, "American Idol".
Quoting a close friend of the accuser, the Orange County Register reported that the woman overdosed on pills and was rushed to a hospital two months before the alleged incident with Bryant.
The friend told the newspaper Bryant's accuser was going through a difficult period in her life at the time of the overdose. When she returned home from her first year of college, she discovered that her ex-boyfriend had begun dating another woman.
Also, around the time of the overdose, a friend of the alleged victim died in a car accident while returning from high school graduation ceremonies.
Bryant has admitted to sexual relations with the accuser, but says he is innocent of the third-degree sexual assault charge. The five-time NBA All-Star faces probation to life in prison if convicted of the single felony count.
On Tuesday, five people told NBC that they saw the alleged victim at a party three days before the charge was filed. They said she appeared to be in a good mood and was "bragging" about the incident.
However, Luke Bray, a friend of the alleged victim, told reporters she was still "shaken up" by the incident and that there was "visible evidence" of what happened.
Reed Holmes
Covers.com has learned that a woman depicted in photos circulating across the Internet is being incorrectly identified as the 19-year-old college student who has accused Kobe Bryant of sexual assault.
Covers.com obtained photos of a woman identified as the victim through the popular peer-to-peer file-sharing software Kazaa. According to information associated with the photos, the woman?s name is Katelyn Faber.
Covers.com has learned that the woman in the photo is not the alleged victim. The woman who is being wrongly identified is also 19 years old, has the same first name and attended the same high school as the accuser in Colorado.
The Rocky Mountain News has reported that the woman who has been incorrectly identified has hired a lawyer to try to stop the spread of the photo.
Earlier this week, "shock jock" Tom Leykis identified Faber as the accuser on his syndicated radio show from Los Angeles. Message boards across North America are repeating her name, including boards on ESPN.com.
?We?re told that rape is violence, not sex, and if that?s true there?s no reason she should feel shame or embarrassment,? Leykis said.
Dr. Patricia Saunders, director of Graham Windham Manhattan Medical Center in New York City, was upset with Leykis's disclosure. ?It?s an intrusion. It?s an utter violation of her right to privacy. It?s a sadistic thing to do,? Dr. Saunders told NBC.
According to media reports, the accuser is a college student who was working for the summer as a concierge and receptionist at the Lodge & Spa at the Cordillera, an exclusive mountain resort near Vail, Colorado.
Bryant, 24, arrived at the spa on June 30, the night the alleged incident took place. He was in Colorado to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee by Vail specialist Dr. Richard Steadman.
The Los Angeles Times reported that hotel employees saw Bryant talking and flirting with the alleged victim when he checked into the hotel. Employees then say the accuser, after getting off duty at 11 p.m., went to Bryant?s room sometime before midnight.
The New York Post reported that the accuser was summoned to Bryant?s room for an after-hours call for room service.
A hotel employee told the L.A. Times that security, responding to complaints of noise from other hotel guests, went to Bryant?s room after midnight on July 1.
Denver television station KUSA reported that witnesses told investigators the woman appeared distressed as she left Bryant's room. Bryant, on the other hand, looked calm and composed as he talked to hotel employees immediately after the incident, according to the Denver Post.
The alleged victim graduated last year from Eagle Valley Senior High, then began working at the hotel after finishing her freshman year at the University of Northern Colorado.
Friends say she is a former high-school cheerleader who is a good singer and pianist. She once tried out for the television show, "American Idol".
Quoting a close friend of the accuser, the Orange County Register reported that the woman overdosed on pills and was rushed to a hospital two months before the alleged incident with Bryant.
The friend told the newspaper Bryant's accuser was going through a difficult period in her life at the time of the overdose. When she returned home from her first year of college, she discovered that her ex-boyfriend had begun dating another woman.
Also, around the time of the overdose, a friend of the alleged victim died in a car accident while returning from high school graduation ceremonies.
Bryant has admitted to sexual relations with the accuser, but says he is innocent of the third-degree sexual assault charge. The five-time NBA All-Star faces probation to life in prison if convicted of the single felony count.
On Tuesday, five people told NBC that they saw the alleged victim at a party three days before the charge was filed. They said she appeared to be in a good mood and was "bragging" about the incident.
However, Luke Bray, a friend of the alleged victim, told reporters she was still "shaken up" by the incident and that there was "visible evidence" of what happened.
