chicagotribune.com
Suit alleges sex assault by Kennedy cousin Smith
By Gina Kim and Mickey Ciokajlo
Tribune staff reporters
August 26, 2004
William Kennedy Smith, who with a nation watching was acquitted of rape and battery in 1991 by a Florida jury, was accused in a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday of sexually assaulting a woman in Chicago five years ago.
The woman, who according to the lawsuit said she worked as a personal assistant to Smith, alleged that Smith forced her into his North Side residence after a night of drinking with co-workers and assaulted her.
The woman, Audra Soulias, filed the lawsuit under her name in Cook County Circuit Court and seeks damages in excess of $50,000.
Neither Soulias nor her lawyer, Kevin E. O'Reilly of Chicago, could be reached for comment Wednesday.
Smith, 43, the nephew of President John F. Kennedy, also could not be reached for comment. However, WLS-Ch. 7 news reported that Smith had issued a statement calling the charges "outrageous" and "untrue" and adding that he was vulnerable to such charges because of his family background.
A preliminary search did not turn up any police records related to the alleged incident, said David Bayless, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department.
Soulias alleges in the suit that she met separately with two female co-workers after the incident to tell them what had happened. One of the co-workers, the suit said, told Soulias that she also had been sexually harassed by Smith.
All three women agreed that Smith would use his "wealth and connections" to escape legal responsibility and that Soulias would be "discredited and further victimized."
According to the lawsuit, Soulias worked for Smith at the Center for International Rehabilitation, a non-profit organization founded by Smith to help the disabled in war-torn countries.
In fall 2003, the lawsuit alleges, two women who worked at the center filed charges alleging sexual harassment against Smith with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
One of them was one of the women whom Soulias met with in 1999, the suit alleges. That woman contacted Soulias and said the center had formed a committee with three board members to conduct an independent investigation of the complaints.
Dr. Henry B. Betts, the organization's founding chairman, said Wednesday evening that board members had investigated allegations against Smith but they were all determined to be unfounded.
"We take any complaint very seriously," Betts said.
Betts said Smith is more susceptible to allegations of sexual abuse because of the enormous media attention given to his rape trial in 1991, when he was acquitted in less than 90 minutes.
"All his life he will have to deal with the fact of people wondering and waiting," Betts said. "I'm not saying any of these people were opportunistic. ... I'm just telling you he is susceptible. He's always under a microscope."
Dr. Michelle L. Kosik, a member of the organization's board, said she was surprised by the allegations in the lawsuit.
"Never at a board meeting I've been to has it ever been brought up or even in a social situation, I haven't heard or seen anything that would make me concerned," Kosik said.
According to the lawsuit, Soulias, two female co-workers and one of their boyfriends went to dinner on Jan. 15, 1999, to celebrate Soulias' birthday. Smith arrived uninvited and later came along with them to a bar, the suit alleges.
When the bar closed at 2 a.m., Soulias attempted to catch a taxi when Smith insisted they share one, the suit alleges. Smith instructed the driver to take them to his Oakdale Avenue address, the suit alleges.
After forcing her into his second-floor bedroom, the suit alleges, Smith pushed Soulias onto a bed and held her down.
"Despite the plaintiff's cries and pleas to stop, the defendant proceeded [to sexually assault her]," the lawsuit alleges.
Later in the morning, after Soulias returned home, she received four separate voicemail messages from Smith apologizing for his behavior, the lawsuit alleges.
Smith's residence in the 500 block of West Oakdale was dark Wednesday night as television camera crews set up outside.
Tribune staff reporters David Heinzmann, Karen Mellen and Liam Ford contributed to this report. |
