1973 (#12) - George lures and rapes Chris

The life od Chris, after telling Greg that she’s not ready for a relationship with a man other than Snapper, becomes more messy than it has ever been before. Determined not to accept a job or money from her father, Chris moves in a small rental apartment, even if she can't find a job. One day, returning from a job interview that didn’t go well, Chris stops at a bar for a hamburger and here she is observed and approached by a man named George Curtis. It comes out a conversation in which Georges fascinates the sweet and sad Chris. Soon the girl gets drunk and, after being walked to her door by George, he asks her to let him come into her place. Initially Chris seemed convinced to accept, but right on the doorstep she regain mental clarity and asks George to leave. The man, however, forces the door and once he comes into the house he rapes her. The brutality, shame and humiliation of this dramatic event destroy Chris emotionally, spiritually and physically. Stuart, constantly obsessed with the sickening thought of what happened to his daughter, feels guilty; her sisters and mother entered a state of shock and fear following the rape of Chris. And Snapper, infuriated and instinctive as his usual, proposes to take the justice into their own hands. The brave Chris, supported by her sister Leslie, decides to sue George Curtis and bring him to trial. The testimony of Chris was confusing and inaccurate, also under pressure by the defense attorney, fails to convince the jury that she was not consenting to the intercourse and the final verdict is therefore not guilty. Georges is then immediately released for lack of evidence, which causes the Brooks family's anger and disdain.