An American tourist who posted photos of herself and said she was brutally attacked at a Dominican Republic resort has now accused the resort of trying to blame the victim.
Her attorneys “feel confident that viewers and the public can see that the hotel’s attempt to blame the victim in this case is their last plea to avoid taking responsibility for their failures,” the statement said.
It added that hotel cameras weren’t operable, and what’s more, it says, the hotel delayed a search for Lawrence-Daley while she lay injured in a piped area filled with wastewater for eight hours, People reported.
“The resort and its parent company are well off and protected by insurance but still refuse to assist Mrs. Lawrence Daley after the tragedy that fell upon her at their resort,” her lawyer said, according to People. “At only first glance, based on the [resort’s] unwillingness to protect their customer, Mrs. Lawrence Daley and her attorney would urge travelers to hesitate or refrain from staying at the Majestic Elegance or its sister resorts until the resort takes such action to protect and respect its customer.”
Lawrence-Daley previously claimed that while she was missing, a hotel staff worker told her husband that she might be drunk and sleeping, People reported. Her husband went to the front desk three times before they began a search for her.
Police spokesman Col. Frank Durán said they took her testimony and collected evidence from where she said the assault took place.
Description of the Attack
Lawrence-Daley, an insurance company employee in Wilmington, said she arrived at the Majestic Elegance resort in January. On her second night there, she said she walked alone through a rotunda on the property at about 10:30 p.m. intending to take some pictures of the ambient outdoor scenery and maybe even get a snack somewhere. She was choked from behind, then the offender dragged her into a nearby maintenance room.“The only opportunity I got to turn was when he was strangling me. And that’s when I saw the uniform. And when I tried to look up I couldn’t just because I was passing out at that point,” she told AP.
After a three-month investigation and a failed attempt to negotiate an out-of-court settlement, the resort’s insurance company eventually sent a letter saying Majestic Elegance bore no responsibility since she couldn’t identify her assailant as an employee. She now has until late July to find a Dominican lawyer to take up the case.
