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Trial set to begin in New Hampshire prep school rape trial

Opening statements are scheduled Tuesday morning in the trial of 19-year-old Owen Labrie of Tunbridge, Vermont.
St. Paul’s School
The entrance to the elite St. Paul’s School is seen Aug. 14, 2015 in Concord, N.H.

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) -- Prosecutors in the rape trial of a New Hampshire prep school graduate say a practice of sexual conquest at the school known as the "Senior Salute" will be central to the case.

Opening statements are scheduled Tuesday morning in the trial of 19-year-old Owen Labrie (lah-BREE') of Tunbridge, Vermont.

He's charged with raping a 15-year-old freshman just days before graduation in 2014. He has pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutors said Labrie raped the girl in a building on the Concord campus of St. Paul's School on May 30, 2014.

In an interview with police, Labrie spoke candidly of the practice in which boys about to graduate attempt to "score" with younger female students.

Deputy Merrimack County Attorney Catherine Ruffle said Monday that the practice is "the context for this entire event."