Southern Charm's Thomas Ravenel Apologizes to Nanny in Sexual Assault Case Settlement
The plea deal that former Southern Charm star Thomas Ravenel struck with the nanny who accused him of rape has been obtained by PEOPLE.
Ravenel, 57, and Nanny Dawn, 44, — who asked that she be publicly identified by her first name and occupation for her own privacy — reached a $125,000 settlement earlier this week, with Ravenel agreeing to pay $45,000 in her personal legal fees and an additional $80,000 to a local nonprofit aiding adult survivors of sexual assault.
In September, Ravenel pled guilty to third-degree assault and battery in the assault case. He received a 30-day sentence that was suspended to a $500 fine and probation in lieu of jail time.
According to the plea documents obtained by PEOPLE, FITSNews and ABC-4, Ravenel — after previously denying all allegations through his lawyer — now admits to making an “unwelcome advance” on her.
He says in the new affidavit that he was intoxicated after a night out drinking and clumsily tried to kiss Ledwell, FITSNews reported. When she rebuffed, he says she “helped me upstairs” to his room and offered him a back rub before leaving.
Dawn had claimed in her initial affidavit, issued by the Charleston Police Department and obtained by PEOPLE, that Ravenel had attempted to kiss her while she worked in his kitchen in 2015. After refuting his advances, she claimed he then “corralled” her into his master bedroom, where he dropped his pants, exposed himself, blocked the door and “proceeded to rip [her] clothes off.” She said she escaped, but not before Ravenel proceeded to sexually assault her (which she described in the affidavit in graphic detail).
All of this allegedly happened when Ravenel’s young daughter with ex-girlfriend Kathryn Dennis, Kensington Calhoun, was sleeping nearby, Dawn alleged.
But in the plea deal, Dawn says that her view of the encounter has “shifted over time.”
“I have read and understand his account of what happened that night and realize his recollection differs from mine,” Dawn says in the new affidavit. “While his memory differs in critical ways from my own regarding the incident, I accept Thomas’ apology for his unwarranted physical contact that evening and I believe him when he says he never intended to sexually assault me.”
Says Ravenel, per ABC-4: “While I reiterate that I have never intentionally sexually assaulted anyone, I also acknowledge that by making an unwelcome advance to Dawn in my home, while she was babysitting my daughter, I behaved improperly and caused her immediate and lasting emotional distress. I unqualifiedly apologize for having done so.”
Elsewhere in the new agreement, Dawn claims that Dennis was among those who urged her to come forward with her case against Ravenel.
“In the Spring of 2018, when stories began emerging in the press about Thomas Ravenel and other women — and after Kathryn Dennis and friends reached out to me, encouraging me to come forward — I ultimately recognized the incident was sexual assault,” Dawn writes.
In her initial affidavit, Dawn said she “immediately” documented the alleged assault and went to the police.
It read: “After escaping the assault, the victim called her then ex-husband and sister and told them of the incident, fled the scene and notified several family members of the incident. Photographs were then taken immediately of the injuries to her neck and chest. Detectives corroborated the incident date and location through employment records of the victim and defendant, and interviewed multiple witnesses, to be named at the court’s discretion, who substantiated the post-assault information. Detectives also retrieved the photographs taken by the victim, which are appropriately time-stamped in reference to the incident.”
A rep for Dennis did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Dawn’s new claim, though Dennis has denied that she pushed Dawn to file charges against Ravenel in documents obtained by PEOPLE regarding their ongoing custody battle.
Requests for comment from Ravenel and Dawn by PEOPLE have yet to be answered.
Dawn is still involved in a civil lawsuit she filed in December 2018 against Bravo, its parent companies (NBC Universal and Comcast) and Southern Charm‘s production company Haymaker — accusing them of “negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, defamation and civil conspiracy,” ABC-4 reported.
That lawsuit used to include Ravenel, though their new plea deal removes him from that case, ABC-4 reports.
Ravenel, who is no longer on Southern Charm, has his own ongoing case against Bravo et al, hoping to stop the show from airing footage of him, his kids or any scenes of Dennis speaking about their legal battle.
Per his new plea agreement with Dawn, any money he would make in that suit — or any future suits against Bravo, NBC Universal, Comcast, and Haymaker — will now go to Dawn, FITSNews reported.
