Friend Speaks Up for Bryant's Accuser
E A G L E, Colo., July 14 -- The young woman who accused basketball star Kobe Bryant is a "trustworthy, thoughtful" person now "in hiding" from the media, a friend of the 19-year-old hotel worker says.
Starlene Bray, a friend of the alleged victim, says the young woman is upset over a media stakeout outside her home in Eagle, Colo.
"She's kind of in hiding right now," Bray, 19, said on ABCNEWS' Good Morning America. "She's been back and forth from Denver, kind of trying to avoid the media and the press right now."
Bryant's accuser, a former high school cheerleader, says the 24-year-old NBA star sexually assaulted her on June 30 while he was staying at the hotel where she works. Prosecutors are now weighing whether to charge Bryant, who has denied the allegations.
The media has not released her name, but Bray says it seems as if everyone in the town of Eagle, a community of just 3,700 people, knows that her friend is the woman who has accused Bryant of sexual assault. And reports alleging the young woman has had emotional problems have made the attention even worse, Bray says.
A recent story in the Vail Daily newspaper reported that the young woman sought a doctor's care this spring for emotional problems that resulted from the death of a friend and a breakup.
Bray says it's true that her friend did seek help, but she says that had nothing to do with the woman's allegations against Bryant.
"She did seek some medical help," Bray says. "She knew she needed it, so she went and got it. She was definitely emotionally fragile, but I don't think it had anything to do with what happened."
Reporters Flock to Small Town
Meanwhile, a steady stream of reporters from around the country has been circling the middle-class cul-de-sac where the young woman's home is located.
The woman has been described by her friends as a talented piano player. She sang in her high school choir and tried out for American Idol.
Bray described the young woman as "a good friend, trustworthy, thoughtful, warmhearted."
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