In an interview at the home of her husband’s parents, Walker asked me to tell her story, including using her name, to give courage to women who are victims of rape, and to encourage a change to the Jefferson City environment that “perpetuates gender violence and rape culture.”

“I felt a moral responsibility to speak out,” Walker said. “The idea or the thought of me trying to just bury it is one I could not live with.”

Walker said the alleged assault took place either the evening of Aug. 26 or the early morning of Aug. 27 at an apartment in the city of St. Louis. She had gone there to meet Roberts to discuss how they might work together in the upcoming legislative session, Walker says. The two will be the only black lawyers in the Legislature.

Walker said she met Roberts at the apartment about 9:30 p.m. She woke up in a bed there the next morning.

“I had no recollection of why I was still there,” she said. Walker said she had two glasses of wine and remembers nothing after the second glass.

She told her husband, Tim, the next day about what happened, she said, but it took the couple several weeks to decide whether to go to police.