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Closing arguments set in New Hampshire prep school rape trial

Following closing arguments, the jury of 11 men and three women will begin deliberations on whether Labrie is guilty.

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St. Paul's School
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New Hampshire prosecutors and defence lawyers on Thursday will make their closing arguments in the trial of a former student at an elite boarding school charged with raping a 15-year-old girl days before graduation last year.

The trial of Owen Labrie, 19, has cast a harsh light on the culture of the prestigious St. Paul's School in Concord, where the alleged attack was described as an outgrowth of a school tradition called the "senior salute," in which graduating seniors seek out younger students for sexual encounters.

Labrie invited the girl, the younger sister of another graduating senior, to explore the roof of a campus building before taking her below to a machine room where their sexual encounter took place. The girl, now 16, last week testified that she had expected to kiss Labrie but no more and was unprepared for his aggressive approach.

"I was raped. I was violated," she testified last week. Labrie testified in his own defence on Wednesday, saying that the encounter was consensual but that he stopped short of intercourse, having decided it was unwise to have sex with the girl just two days before graduation.

He said he lied to friends who had earlier testified that Labrie told them he had sex with the girl. "I wanted to boast to my friends afterward," he said. "I misled them." Several students testified during the trial about an informal school tradition known as the "senior salute," in which graduating students extend invitations to get together with younger students, often for sexual purposes.

St. Paul's, whose alumni include powerful US business and political leaders such as Secretary of State John Kerry, has said the "senior salute" does not reflect its values. Following closing arguments, the jury of 11 men and three women will begin deliberations on whether he is guilty. He faces three felony assault charges, which each carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. 

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