Student misidentified as the victim in Ohio University sexual assault footage is too terrified to leave her house because of vicious attacks by internet trolls

A girl falsely identified as the victim of an alleged sexual assault during an Ohio University Homecoming last week has opened up today about the venomous abuse she has received online and how she was so frightened she became a prisoner in her own home.



Journalism student, Rachel Cassidy, was wrongly named on Twitter as the woman in the now notorious images and video of a girl being pinned against a wall while a man performed oral sex as passers-by only stopped to film it.



The video and picture quickly became a national news story, provoking outrage at those who did not intervene and some bloggers it seems started hunting for the woman - claiming that she had only filed a sexual assault suit because she was embarrassed at the footage.



Incorrectly identified: Rachel Cassidy was falsely named as the alleged victim of a sexual assault on October 12th at Ohio University Homecoming that was filmed and uploaded to the Internet



However, not only did the shameful web users go after the potential victim of a sexual assault - they also identified the wrong girl.



Rachel was named by @Anon_Central — a popular Twitter account with over 170,000 followers as the alleged victim days after the incident and was accused of being a 'liar' only interested in saving her own 'ass'.

However, Rachel has come forward to explain that she is '100 percent' not the woman involved and that she was nowhere near the incident at Chase Bank, 2 S. Court St., on Saturday, October 12th.

Police officers have also confirmed that she was not involved.



Vile: This is the Tweet that named Rachel Cassidy as the girl involved in the rape claim after she was filmed on the street at the Ohio University Homecoming

Abuse: This Twitter user falsely accuses Rachel Cassidy of making a false claim after an incident on October 12th

Opinionated: This Twitter user declares her feelings about the unidentified woman who has reported a sexual assault in Athens, Ohio, - falsely naming her as Rachel Cassidy

Cassidy, who is a member of the Alpha Omicron Pi sorority, told The Post on Saturday that at the time of the incident, she was at her sorority house.



'Wednesday night, my friend called me and said there were pictures posted of me linked to the woman in the video saying I was her, although that’s untrue,' Cassidy said.



'I was nowhere near where the incident occurred I have no idea why I was targeted.'



Cassidy has had to deactivate all her social media accounts after being targeted for abuse by unforgiving internet trolls and at her own request her email and phone number have been removed from the Ohio University website.

The photo which Blanc posted, which MailOnline has cropped, shows the man kneeling down and performing a sex act on the woman against a wall

Excused from classes, Cassidy was so frightened by the abuse she received online that she only left her home over the weekend and revealed that she was in bed as the incident was unfolding.



'I wasn’t even doing anything related to Homecoming having fun, so that’s annoying. I was probably asleep in my bed when this happened, and now I’m being blamed for it.'



While police and the university are aware who exactly the real victim is, OU President Roderick McDavis, in a statement released last week, said officials with the university are supporting her.



It is unclear if her identity will ever be released.



Rachel's parents revealed they were stunned by the level of vitriol their daughter had experienced at the kangaroo court of the Internet.



'Our daughter has been victimized by the Internet, and in this day and age it’s very hard to validate yourself,' her mother Theresa said.



'That’s our name, that’s her name, and she’s going to have to live with that for the rest of her life.'



Her father Steve said that he was distraught at the attacks on his daughter.



'You hope that nothing ever happens to your child,' he said.



'You can’t imagine, ever, that something could happen. It’s not your child, and somehow she’s misidentified as being a part of the incident. It goes around the globe on the Internet. The venom is horrific.'

Close for comfort: The photos suggest the alleged sexual assault took place against the Chase bank on Court Street which is about a block away from the police department

Steve said that he wants it known that the only similarities between his daughter and the real victim are simply down to their curly hair.



As for Rachel, she said that her friends and family are supporting her and that she is able and willing to look after herself.



'I know all of my friends and family support me, and it’s not me,' Cassidy said.



'As long as I have them in my life supporting me, if people say negative things toward me, they will stand up for me. I think I’m a pretty strong person and I can stand up for myself knowing it’s not me. I think I’ll be OK.'



In the days after the attack the unidentified woman seen receiving oral sex in the photos and videos reportedly had no idea what happened to her until the next morning when she saw the photos online. About 10 people were watching the sex act taking place.

Shame: Vance Blanc, a 19-year-old college student, is one of those being criticized for failing to step in and act while the alleged sexual assault was occuring. Instead he's among a handful of people who posted pictures online

Police have confirmed that a sexual assault was reported on Sunday .



One of the individuals who stood and videoed the incident was named and shamed by the MailOnline last week.



Vance Blanc, 19, tweeted the image the morning after with the caption: ‘So I witnessed this the other night. This is the photo’.



Vance sent it to @Huntermoore, who is the man behind the notorious now shuttered ‘Revenge Porn’ website Anyone Up?



He also tweeted it at @68StewartSt, a user who goes by the name of The Animal House who seems to be an OU student who puts on parties.



When the story went viral Vance was initially belligerent and tweeted: ‘You don't wanna get embarrassed? don't do stupid shit.’

