An Eastern student who accused a man of forcing her to have sexual intercourse with him said she’s afraid local rape victims will not come forward because of the outcome of her trial last week in Coles County Circuit Court.

“What am I supposed to tell rape victims?” she asked in an interview Friday.

The man, former Eastern football player Antwan G. Oliver, 21, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was found not guilty of rape by a jury Wednesday.

“He didn’t win — he got off,” the woman said. “The system failed me like it fails 95 percent of rape victims in America. My system stinks.”

The 19-year-old woman said the verdict in her case sent a message to rape victims that internal scars do not matter, and women have to prove force and show they were beat up or that they fought back to win their cases. This ideology she believes happens in rape cases is the wrong message to send to others, she said.

“You don’t have to be beat up to be raped,” she said. “Fear can overcome someone.”

She said she’s afraid rape victims will not come forward with their cases. She even doubts herself sometimes.

“I should have went home, taken a shower, and not said anything to anyone — that’s what I keep telling myself,” she said.

She then quickly admonished herself.

“I did the right thing, I know,” she said.

But other women may not tell anyone what happened so as to avoid the attention, pain and

embarrassment she went through, she said.

The incident has changed her life even to the extent that she said she can’t return to Eastern next semester.

“People know me. They know it’s me. I can’t come back to school here,” she said. “I have to transfer because of the public opinion. I am publicly called a liar. If I do stay here, what kind of social life will I have?”

She said people have maligned her since she filed the charges. She said even other women have made negative comments to her about the incident.

She believes everywhere she goes — her classes, just walking around campus — people are staring

at her and thinking she’s a liar.

She believes she’s alone now and believes no one understands the emotional stress she and her family have dealt with for almost a year.

“Nobody’s going to hold my hand as I walk to class; I can’t get in a fight every day,” she said.

Oliver was indicted by a Coles County grand jury May 24 on the charges of sexual assault. He was accused of raping the 19-year-old woman at his apartment at that time on Monroe Avenue on Jan. 20.

During her testimony, the woman said she and her friends went out on the night of Jan. 20 and ended up at Oliver’s home, which also was the home of a group of football players, because one of her friends knew one of the players.

In court, Oliver, now a student at Illinois State University, said the woman consented to sexual intercourse, but she said she agreed to go into a bedroom at the apartment with him, but she refused to have sex with him.

In her testimony she said, “I told him no over and over again. He wasn’t listening. I was so afraid of what might happen if I did fight back.”

She also testified that she did not try to run away from Oliver because six other football players and two women whom she did not know were in the other room.

She denied comments a witness made during the trial that she was “horny” and found Oliver attractive.

Assistant State’s Attorney Duane Deters said the case is over, however, and the prosecution will not seek perjury charges against anyone.

“It’s not uncommon for witnesses to make statements other people would disagree with,” Deters said.

Deters said he was disappointed in the outcome of the trial, but he said the prosecution did all it could to win its case.

“These cases are always hard to take to trial,” Deters said. “They’re mostly draining on everyone involved.”

While the sexual assault case is finished, Oliver will be back in court this week to face another charge in connection with the case.

Oliver is charged with trespassing, for allegedly being on campus on Homecoming weekend, disobeying a court order that he was not to be on Eastern’s property.

His hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. Wednesday in Coles County Circuit Court.

Trespassing is a class B misdemeanor that could carry a fine or a jail sentence of up to six months if the defendant is convicted.