An Irish woman who has accused a former Goldman Sachs executive of rape has returned to the US to face him in court.
The 22-year-old woman, who remains anonymous but has been identified in court documents as “DD,” will appear in court today in Suffolk County, NY as the trial of Jason Lee begins.
Lee, 39, formerly a managing director with Goldman Sachs, has denied all charges.
The Irish woman, then a student in America on a J-1 visa, was visiting her brother in the Hamptons when she was allegedly raped by Jason Lee after he stripped naked and followed her into the bathroom. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of first-degree rape.
After Lee posted $100,000 bail, his defense attorney, Edward Burke Jr, told reporters that Lee, a married man, did have consensual sex with the 20-year-old in September 2013, East Hampton Patch reports. "We have what is an apparent rush to arrest my client, a rush to the grand jury and a rush to indict my client," Burke said.
The 20-year-old Irish woman told detectives she met the banker at Georgica restaurant, where Lee was celebrating his 37th birthday with a friend. He bought her and her friends drinks.
She said he then invited the group to a house in East Hampton that he had rented. The woman’s brother, who spent the summer working in the East Hampton area, also accompanied them.
Lee rented the $33,000-a-month summer Clover Leaf Lane house with his wife, who was reportedly in Manhattan at the time of the alleged assault. The group had a pool party before Lee and the alleged victim went inside.
According to the DA’s office, the woman told police Lee was naked when he attempted to follow her into a bathroom. She claims as she tried to close the door he shoved it open with enough force to cause her to fall onto the floor, where he pinned her down.
The police were originally called to the house to investigate what was later determined to be a false car robbery, District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
When the police arrived, the brother of the alleged victim led a female officer aside and into the house, where the 20-year-old was. She was then taken to hospital for an exam.
A nurse, trained to handle sexual assault cases, found "injuries consistent with the allegations she was making," Spota said.
Lee was found hiding in his car 45 minutes to an hour later.
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