Southern Charm personality Thomas Ravenel has been accused of sexually assaulting a woman he met on the dating app Tinder in 2015.
Real estate agent Ashley Perkins alleged to PEOPLE Wednesday that her mother, Debbie Holloway Perkins, met Ravenel on Tinder in October 2015 and went on a first date with him on Christmas Day of that year.
Videos by PopCulture.com
(“My client enjoys a certain degree of fame and unfortunately has become – unfairly – a target for an individual who has, in my opinion, dubious motivations,” Ravenel’s attorney, Richard P. Terbrusch, told PEOPLE in a statement.)
Ashley told the publication that while she did not witness the alleged assault, her mother told her about it.
“We lived in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. He was going to pick her up and they were going to go out for drinks. She agreed to that,” she said.
When the two got in the car, Ashley alleged the Bravo personality changed plans, asking to show Debbie his newly-renovated home.
Ravenel and Debbie soon arrived at the reality personality’s home, where he allegedly gave her a tour of the guest house, where Ravenel’s nanny and two children live. He shares daughter Kensie, 4, and son Saint, 2, with ex-girlfriend and Southern Charm castmate Kathryn Dennis.
Upon entering the nanny’s room, Ravenel allegedly started peeking through the blinds, pointing to the bathroom you can see from there.
“‘That’s where I caught [ex-girlfriend] Kathryn making out with some guy,’” he allegedly told her, at which point Debbie told Ashley he “went into this trance.”
“That’s when he turned on her. He pushes my mom onto the nanny’s bed, grabs her wrist with one hand, then he starts trying to pull her pants off. And she’s like ‘No, no, no, stop.’ He stuck his fingers inside of her vagina as well as her anus. She told me that he held her hands back with one arm and then pulled his penis out and shoved it in her face,” said Ashley.
“My mom is very claustrophobic – she screamed at him and said, ‘You’re a rapist.’ He stopped, jumped off of her and was like ‘out of his trance,’” Ashley claimed.
After the alleged attack, Ashley claims Ravenel told Debbie “‘to get yourself an Uber.’”
“My mom has never been in an Uber. She’s angry at this point. I was angry at her for doing this but she told him, ‘No you can drive me home.’ He did say to her on the car ride home, ‘You’re stupid to let me drive you home when I’m intoxicated.’ He admitted it,” Ashley claimed. “And on the way home, he went off on her about how she wasn’t his type, he just asked her out to, pardon, but f— her. He brought up how she was old.”
That night, Ashley said her mother “acted very withdrawn” before she confided in her daughter that Ravenel “‘stuck his penis in my face.’”
“Her wrists were starting to look bad the next morning. I said, ‘We need to see who we’re dealing with.’ She didn’t want to do anything. She was scared to go to court. I said right now you don’t want to do anything, let me take a picture of your wrist. Let’s get some evidence in case you want to do something,” said Ashley.
Debbie proceeded to get in touch with attorney Gloria Allred, who allegedly took on the case. On June 1, 2016, Debbie and Ashley participated in mediation, and according to Ashley, she never signed a non-disclosure agreement, but her mother did. Ashley alleged they ended up settling for $200,000.
“Someone messed up … someone dropped the ball and at that point, I knew I could talk,” said Ashley.
Ashley also opened up about why she came forward with her mom’s story.
“When something like this happens, it doesn’t just affect the victim but everyone around them. That’s why I came forward when I found out that I didn’t have to keep my mouth shut. I don’t think it’s right, a lot of people disagree with me because she ‘settled,’ but it drives me crazy that he’s out on television – some of the things he’s said on TV about women, he should be off Bravo in my opinion,” Ashley said.
She also hoped to help other women in a similar situation.
“This is bigger than my mom. This is bigger than me. I would like to let… other women know that Thomas is not invincible. Or even just women who are against powerful men and think they can’t do anything. I want them to know, you can. I would like to see him off of Bravo,” she said. “I would like for my mom not to have to worry about flipping on the television and seeing his smug mug, flaunting his lifestyle around. It’s bigger than us now. I’d like to see some good come out of the ugly.”
Photo credit: Bravo
