USA TODAY US Edition

The accuser:

Christine Blasey Ford tried to stay out of spotlight.

- Elizabeth Weise

SAN FRANCISCO – Over nearly four decades, Christine Blasey Ford, who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her, racked up a list of university degrees and profession­al accolades, including a Ph.D. in psychology, positions at Stanford University, a professors­hip and multiple academic publicatio­ns.

But it is a day in 1982, when the then-15-year-old prep school student attended a party with boys from a nearby boys school, that is destined to make Ford a household name.

Ford said Kavanaugh, 17 at the time, and a friend trapped her in a bedroom of a house in Montgomery County, Maryland, where the party was held. She said the friend watched while Kavanaugh tried to pull off her clothes. When she tried to yell, Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth to stop her, she said.

The friend jumped on top of them, knocking all three off the bed and allowing Ford to escape, she told The Washington Post in an interview posted Sunday night.

Kavanaugh denied the allegation, calling it “completely false.” In a statement Monday, he said, “I have never done anything like what the accuser describes – to her or to anyone.”

By Monday morning, a Wikipedia page about Ford had been created and the previously little-known biostatist­ician was the subject of dozens of articles and television reports, as well as a mocking Instagram post from President Donald Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr.

Ford and Kavanaugh are scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday about the allegation­s. The hearings will delay a committee vote on Kavanaugh’s nomination and carry with them echoes of the testimony in 1991 of Anita Hill, who accused Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment during his confirmati­on hearings to become a Supreme Court justice.

The sudden rush into the spotlight began very differentl­y for Ford. In early July, she anonymousl­y contacted the Post’s tip line when Kavanaugh made the shortlist of possible nominees for the Supreme Court position opened by the retirement of Justice Anthony Kennedy.

On July 30, Ford sent a confidenti­al letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., via her congresswo­man, Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., in which she outlined the story about the possible nominee but asked for confidenti­ality.

She decided not to speak publicly over fears of what it would do to her and her family, she told the Post. She hired Debra Katz, a Washington lawyer whose firm focuses on whistle-blower, employment and sexual harassment laws.

Her attempts to remain private failed, and the first reports of allegation­s involving Kavanaugh surfaced. Reporters called Ford, visited her home and attempted to speak to her as she left a class she taught.

Ford told the Post her “civic responsibi­lity is outweighin­g my anguish and terror about retaliatio­n.” She gave an on-the-record interview, which was published Sunday night.

Since then, her online presence has both diminished and grown. She removed her LinkedIn profile but gained a Wikipedia page created by a stranger.

The researcher and scientist has led a low-key life until now. Ford, 51, is a professor and research psychologi­st who teaches research design and education clinical psychology at Palo Alto University and in a consortium program with Stanford University’s School of Medicine.

Ford’s position was confirmed by the university.

She works with students on experiment­al and clinical trial design and data analysis, according to the university’s website.

Reporters called Ford, visited her home and attempted to speak to her as she left a class she taught.

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