Penn State rape case from the past casts shadow on 'Birth of a Nation' director

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After a handful of recent trade interviews in which Parker discussed the rape charges he faced and was then acquitted of as a student at Penn State University in 1999, Parker's past is what's drawing headlines well before the October release of "The Birth of a Nation." Attention has only intensified with the news Tuesday from Hollywood trade publications The Hollywood Reporter and Variety that the accuser, who was not named, killed herself in 2012 at the age of 30 after a few prior attempts.

As a 19-year-old wrestler at Penn State, Parker and his roommate Jean Celestin (who has a story credit on "The Birth of a Nation") were charged with raping an 18-year-old student. The woman said she was unconscious at the time and didn't consent to the sex. Parker, who testified that he and the woman had previously had sex, and Celestin maintained that it was consensual.

According to court documents, the woman tried twice to commit suicide in 1999.

Parker was acquitted in 2001. Celestin was convicted of sexual assault, but that was later overturned when the woman opted not to testify again for a 2005 retrial. She sued Penn State and was awarded a settlement out of court.

Her suffering reportedly continued, however.

The Hollywood Reporter on Tuesday spoke to S. Daniel Carter, a Penn State sexual assault advocate, who said the accuser was "tormented" by "the constant contact and fear of seeing her assailants on campus."

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