When she was a teenager at the center of a rape trial that captured the nation, we didn't even know her name. Now, Chessy Prout is speaking out about surviving sexual assault at the hands of a fellow student.

"I wanted to take back my name and my story," she told WGBH News.

She joined Greater Boston to discuss her new memoir, "I Have the Right To: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope," alongside Jenn Abelson, her co-author and an investigative reporter for The Boston Globe.

"I wasn't really given the luxury of staying anonymous for long," Prout said. "The defense attorney in my case used a tactic where he used my name as many times as he could during the trial. So my name slipped through instead of being blocked out."

From there, she said her name was written on the internet. She received rape and death threats, and pictures of her home, her address and her family — including her then-5-year-old sister — were posted online.

It all started in 2014, when Prout was a 15-year-old freshman at the elite St. Paul's School in New Hampshire. She was approached by senior Owen Labrie, who invited her to take part in "senior salute," an unofficial school ritual where seniors hooked up with younger classmates before graduation. 

Though Prout agreed to meet with him, Labrie took her to a secluded place where, she says, he sexually assaulted her. When she pressed charges, she says the response from her classmates was far from what she expected.

"I was pushed out because I stood up against their years and years-long tradition of the senior salute, and I stood up to one of the most influential students at campus at the time," she said.

Abelson said the school's handling of the case was just as painful.

"I think one of the hardest things for Chessy since this has come out is that the school has still refused to acknowledge what happened to her," she said. "This was a crime that was committed, there was a verdict that happened, and it's really disappointing to see this kind of school response."

St. Paul's School said in a statement that "students understood senior salute to refer to a range of consensual behavior. It was never a tradition and was not about assault or coercion. The school has no tradition that would ever allow or condone what happened to Chessy." 

Prout says the school should have known the nature of the unofficial ritual, because there was a "newspaper article that outlined what the senior salute was in the school's public paper."

Ultimately, Labrie was arrested, charged, and after a months-long legal battle, convicted of misdemeanor sexual assault. He was also convicted of luring a minor with a computer, forcing him to register as a sex offender. 

The case shined a national spotlight on a culture of sexual conquest at St. Paul's, one of the nation's most elite boarding schools. Abelson, who has reported extensively on sexual assault for the Globe, says that cases of sexual assault are prevalent at private schools across the region.

"It was more than 100 schools, more than 300 students, we found had been victims. Many had suffered in silence for decades," she said. With "the schools covering up, pushing out predators, giving them recommendations to other schools."

Abelson said that St. Paul's School and others should learn from Prout's story.

"I think this should be a lesson to them in how not to to behave," she said. "There is a new culture, a new era dawning."

Prout hopes that by sharing her story, she can help other survivors going through the same things she did.

"I wrote this book for the survivors, to kind of show that although we might go through some really terrible, hard things, that there is a community out there that's ready to support you and love you," she said.

To watch the full interview, click the video player above.

Editor's Note: After this interview aired, St. Paul's School sent an additional statement, which reads:

"We fully support Chessy’s trailblazing work to give a voice to sexual assault victims. Chessy bravely stepped forward to address an issue important not just to schools, but to the entire country.

We’re proud of the culture we’ve built at our school and of our care for students. The school’s culture does not condone or tolerate what happened to Chessy. We teach students extensively about sexual assault prevention, and have strengthened our robust programs on health, well-being, and mutual respect. 

We are dedicated to our mission of educating students in an environment that is safe and welcoming for everyone, and we are constantly working to improve it."