Victim on Trial: Cheryl Araujo and The Accused
The 1988 film The Accused starring Academy Award winner Jodie Foster depicts the horrific assault and subsequent victim blaming of Sarah Tobias. The film was based on the real case of Cheryl Araujo
*Warning: This Article Contains Sensitive Subject Matter*
Film Overview
The Accused was released on October 14, 1988, starring Jodie Foster as Sarah Tobias, a young woman who survives a brutal gang rape in a bar, and Kelly McGillis as Katheryn Murphy, the prosecutor assigned to her case.
The film opens with Sarah going to a rundown bar to drown her sorrows after a fight with her boyfriend. There, she’s brutally gang-raped by three men on top of a pinball machine, as other bar patrons watch and cheer her attackers on.
When Sarah wakes in the hospital her body is battered, and a rape kit confirms what she experienced. District Attorney Kathryn Murphy takes on her case, but soon backs into a plea deal when Sarah's past, rumored flirting, alcohol, and a drug conviction, undermine her credibility.
