A woman has given a harrowing account of how she says she was raped by Justin Fairfax when they were in college and how she blames herself...
A woman has given a harrowing account of how she says she was raped by Justin Fairfax when they were in college and how she blames herself for him allegedly assaulting another woman four years later.
Meredith Watson claims she was 'held down' by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2000 when they were both students at Duke University, 'forcibly sexually assaulted' and raped in the dark.
Like Fairfax's other accuser, Vanessa Tyson, she says she had confided in him about being raped by someone else when he allegedly attacked her.
Both women made their accusations in February but have each spoken out since in an effort to see him brought to justice.
In an interview with CBS This Morning on Tuesday, Watson said she felt responsible for the alleged attack on Tyson which happened four years later.
She also gave a harrowing account of the night Fairfax, now 40, allegedly assaulted her.
Meredith Watson claims she was 'held down' by the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia in 2000. She wept on Tuesday in an interview about the assault
WATCH: Meredith Watson claims VA's Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax assaulted and raped her in 2000, when they were both students at Duke University -- allegations he strongly denies.
Some of the details she shared with @GayleKing are disturbing. cbsn.ws/2I7vj9G
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At the time, she was a junior and he was a senior. They had become friends and she says she 'really trusted' him.
'He was someone I really trusted and … during my junior year one night, he invited me to come over to celebrate. He was nearing the end of his senior year and just wanted to hang out and I did not think anything of it because it was normal. It was something we'd done tons and tons and tons of times.
'I completely trusted him.
'We were hanging out and everything was normal … and at one point, he left the room. And when he came back in the room ... he sort of stood blocking.
'The door was sort of imposing, the way he walked in the room and he shut the door. And it was sort of, like, simultaneous. I heard the door click and the light went off.'
He then assaulted her, she said, despite her trying to get up 'several times' but Fairfax 'pushed' her back down.
'He did things that you shouldn't do to someone without their permission. And I tried several times to get up and leave and was pushed back down.
'He forcibly sexually assaulted and raped me. I was not on the bed, initially. There was a couch.
'And he pulled me over and I tried several times to get up and was pushed back down, held down. It was very clear,; she said.
Watson hit back at his claim that the encounter was consensual, saying: 'If you have to hold someone down, it's not consensual.'
Afterwards, Watson said she felt 'humiliated.'
She confided in friends about her claims that he attacked her, telling them that 'something awful had happened'.
'I told them exactly who it was. It was a huge betrayal. He was my friend. I don't understand how you do that to somebody that you've been a friend to and who's confided in you about things. I just don't understand how you do that,' she said.
Justin Fairfax, the Virginia Lieutenant Governor, denies the allegations. He is shown, left, recently, and right, in his college years when he allegedly raped Watson
Watson cried as she said she felt 'guilty' for not reporting it at the time. Another woman says he attacked her four years later
Watson never reported him attacking her but said she did tell university officials about being raped by a basketball player in a separate incident. Duke says it is reviewing the procedures that were in place at the time.
Months afterwards, she said she confronted Fairfax about the attack at a party and that he told her he preyed on her because she had already been the victim of a different assault.
'One night after it happened … I was at a party on campus and he came and so I went to leave, like, I left. And he followed me out and was sort of following after me, calling after me.
'And I was just running trying to get away and then I finally stopped and I turned around. And all I said to him was, "Why? Why would you do that to me."
'And he said, "I knew because of what happened to you last year that if I got you in the right situation, you would be too afraid to say or do anything about it."'
Now, she says she feels 'guilty' about not doing more to bring him to justice given Tyson's allegations.
'I feel guilty. It happened to her after it happened to me. And had I had the strength or the courage to say something in 2000, maybe it never would've happened to her.
'And I know the pain that she's had to live with since it happened. And nobody should have to go through this. And I feel awful. I feel awful.'
Vanessa Tyson says Fairfax forced her to perform oral sex on him in 2004 while she was 'gagging and choking'
She shot down criticism over her past, including her turbulent relationship with her child's father which has emerged since she went public, saying that it has 'nothing to do' with the incident.
Watson insisted she is not looking for money, and that 'no amount' could ever make up for what he did.
'I'll say this, there's-- there is no amount of money that could ever compensate for what he did to me or what I live with every day.
'I just want-- I want-- I want to support Dr. Tyson. I want the people of Virginia to know the truth. And I would like the Virginia legislature to do the right thing,' she said.
Tyson says she was forced to perform oral sex on the man in 2004 after meeting him while she was working at a rape crisis center.
She said he invited her back to his hotel room and forced her to perform the act even as she was 'choking and gagging'.
Fairfax, who is married, denies both woman's claims.
In a lengthy statement, he said in part that he was a 'strong proponent' of women's rights.
'I never assaulted either Dr. Tyson or Ms. Watson,' he said elsewhere.
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