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Labrie Speaks For First Time Since Sexual Assault Conviction

Jim Cole/AP
In August St. Paul's grad Owen Labrie, 20, was convicted of having sex with a then-freshman girl. He was sentenced to a year in county jail.

Since Owen Labrie, 20, was charged and convicted of sexually assaulting a then-15-year-old freshman girl at St. Paul's school in Concord, the former graduate has remained silent when it comes to the media.

That's until today when Newsweekpublished a lengthy article describing his post-trial life. The reporter for the piece, Matthew Cooper, met with Labrie in Vermont, where a court has ordered him to remain while his defense team appeals to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.

The article details Labrie's life-- building a chapel in his father's backyard and splitting time between his father's home and his mother's home.  Before the charges and his subsequent conviction, Labrie had planned to spend this year studying theology at Harvard University.

But a national survivors' group, who spoke for the victim throughout the trial, is protestingNewsweek's reporting.  The group, SurvJustice, calls it one-sided and claims it is "causing the victim and her family ongoing harm."

Over the summerthe  case received national coverage when it was revealed during the trial that the sexual encounter was part of a so-called student tradition where seniors try to "hook up" with as many underclassmen as they can before they graduate.

Labrie has been sentenced to a year in county jail as well as having to register as a lifetime sex offender for luring in a minor through a computer, a charge the defense vehemently objects to. The appeal process could take up to a year.

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