The first time the public heard Jane Doe’s voice was from behind a thin piece of black cloth during an ethics hearing at the Idaho Statehouse.
That curtain, the anonymity, taking the tunnels into the building — it was all meant to keep her identity as secret as possible as she testified about what she said was a sexual assault by a Republican lawmaker at the time. .
Although lawmaker Aaron von Ehlinger was found guilty, nothing about how that hearing or the criminal trial that followed unfolded was on Doe’s terms. She was doxxed, chased through the halls of the Capitol, and harassed at home.
Two years later, Doe decided to tell his story in his own way.
On May 26, her voice could be heard across the country on an episode of “This American Life,” the mega-popular radio show and podcast that reaches more than 4.4 million people each week. The 74-minute episode ranked No. 1 in Apple Podcasts, according to analytics website Chartable.
Doe recounted her time as a 19-year-old legislative intern in 2021, when she fell victim to von Ehlinger, who forced her to perform oral sex in her Boise apartment after having dinner. The Idaho House Ethics and Policy Committee found von Ehlinger guilty of conduct unbecoming a legislator, and he resigned before a vote was held to expel him.
A 12-person jury convicted him of rape last August and a judge sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
“This American Life,” known for its gripping first-person stories, allowed Doe to guide audiences through events as she experienced them. The Idaho statesman reviewed the details revealed on the show, including new information.
Who is Jane Doe?
In the episode, Doe, who continued to use her alias, became a three-dimensional person for the audience for the first time as she shared details about her life.
The 21-year-old Hispanic and multi-generational Idahoan is a member of a local trampoline gym, teases his siblings with fart jokes and “loves to poke fun at the state legislature.”
She became the first teenage mother to work in the Legislature through the Idaho State Page program, an experience she enjoyed so much that she returned as an intern the following year.
“I felt like I was walking on gold,” Doe said in the episode. “Literally (of) my whole family, I’m the first to work for the government.”
Doe said she became interested in government after learning about the criminal justice system as a volunteer at a shelter for victims of domestic violence. She eventually started working night shifts at the shelter for $8 an hour during her capitol internship.
It’s a sense of duty to survivors of domestic violence, she said on the show, that convinced her to speak out about von Ehlinger, despite fears it would ruin her life.
“I’m pointing this out because that’s what a good Samaritan does,” Doe said. “That’s what you do. That’s what you’re supposed to do. And so — being an advocate for domestic violence and sexual assault myself — what would I say to another 19-year-old who was assaulted by a legislator?
Jane Doe becomes a sexual assault case
Doe was unaware when she informed her Capitol supervisor of the rape that she would end up serving as a test case for the Legislature’s new sexual assault reporting guidelines.
Under those guidelines, his supervisor was required to forward the report to superiors, according to “This American Life.”
The attorney general’s office informed the police while the House of Representatives launched an ethics committee investigation led by Rep. Sage Dixon. The show pointed out that Dixon, a Republican Rep from Ponderay who runs an electric company, had no training in how to conduct a sexual assault investigation.
“This American Life” obtained a transcript of an interview in which Doe was asked to tell committee members privately what happened. When she got to the part about von Ehlinger “climbing on her”, Dixon stopped her, saying that “maybe the committee is getting uncomfortable too”, according to the show.
“You made me relive a horrible experience and just tell me you’re uncomfortable,” Doe said on the show. “I was so hurt.”
For the open court, Doe’s attorneys asked that she be allowed to testify remotely and that her voice be disguised. The AG’s office denied the request. Dixon told “This American Life” he was unaware of these requests and would have been open to them. In retrospect, he didn’t think having her testify publicly was worth the trauma it caused.
“I’m so sorry if we increased that trauma, or that we did, because that was never our intention,” Dixon said. “I know that each of these members has a very strong feeling that she was wronged and wanted to protect her, but because of our inexperience, things may not have gone as smoothly as they would have. could.”
After the hearing, Doe quit her internship at the Capitol and took a job cleaning houses. She started failing college classes, lost 20 pounds and started having panic attacks, she said. People would show up to harass her in her apartment, and others would recognize her name in public and ask if she was Jane Doe.
His identity was meant to remain anonymous, but became somewhat public after von Ehlinger’s lawyer sent it to reporters and the far-right newspaper Redoubt News published it. Representative Priscilla Giddings, a far-right ally of von Ehlinger, later shared this article on social media and in an email newsletter, in which she called Doe a “honey trap” who was part of a “liberal smear job” in a “#MeToo Witch Hunt.
This law removed Giddings from a legislative committee in November 2021 after undergoing an ethics review. Jane Doe eventually sued Giddings, von Ehlinger, and the Legislature. The lawsuit against the Legislative Assembly was dismissed after a settlement; the lawsuit against the two former lawmakers is active.
“Nobody wanted to talk to me. Nobody would even look me in the eye anymore,” Doe said, referring to her time at work after the sexual assault. “I went from smiling and saying hello to everyone to no one looking at me. And then that’s when I was really like, fuck, they hate me. Like everyone in this Statehouse hates me.
In the years since, the Idaho legislature has not created new sexual assault investigation procedures, sexual harassment policies or anti-fraternization rules, according to the show.
“This American Life” said the only major change the ethics committee made afterward was to strengthen privacy protections so that “anyone who releases a victim’s name can face consequences.” The committee also created a new rule that would allow the Legislative Assembly to cover the legal costs of lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct.
Hearings, trials cause distress
The ethics and criminal hearings were so traumatic for Doe that she said she had suicidal thoughts.
When Doe stood up to leave the ethics hearing, she was supposed to exit through a private door. In her distress, she crossed the wrong one and found herself in a public hallway. She screamed and started running, chased by von Ehlinger supporters and a local KBOI reporter, all filming her.
“I broke. I broke. I screamed. I screamed a lot,” Doe said. “Like screaming how badly I was going to kill myself. All I wanted was to climb to the top of the building.
She said she tried to reach the balcony of the rotunda to throw herself on it. Her lawyers blocked her and she collapsed to the ground.
The criminal trial was also difficult. On the stand, Doe could barely speak. Finally, she pushed her chair back and ran out of the room again. She ran across Front Street, then Myrtle, she said, as she tried to get to a bridge to jump.
She said the police caught her and took her to the ground.
“It was like nine different officers on top of me, and I was just on the floor,” Doe said. “I was screaming and hitting my head over and over again.”
As this was happening, she noticed her attorney nearby, on all fours, crying. Doe said the sight was painful enough to stop her for a moment.
“During this brief break, the police put a full restraint bandage, helmet and handcuffs on Jane,” Miki Meek, the episode’s host, said on the show. “They put her in a patrol car and transferred her to a hospital for psychiatric treatment. She spent three days there.
Doe dreams of a future in politics
Doe told “This American Life” she’s come a long way. She works in her stepfather’s plumbing business, but recently rekindled her dream of going into politics.
She said she hoped to start with a PTA, then city council, and finally, state government.
“I’m going to be a legislator,” Doe said. “I will never be ashamed to walk into this building again. In the future, no. Surely not. I am a multigenerational Idahoan. My mother is here. My siblings are here. My son is here. I am there. No way you’re kicking me out. I pay my taxes. This is our building.”