OLYMPIA – Former Miss Washington Elyse Umemoto, 25, shared her story Friday of surviving domestic violence during a breakfast fundraiser for SafePlace, a service provider for domestic violence victims in Thurston County.

Organizers said the breakfast raised more than $33,000 for SafePlace’s programs, which include its 28-bed shelter, a 24-hour help line for victims and legal services for victims who need to learn how they can use the courts to file a domestic violence protection order.

Umemoto said her ex-boyfriend physically abused her and stalked her while she was the reigning 2007 Miss Washington, as well as after she finished as second runner-up in the 2008 Miss America pageant. She dated the man for about 18 months after they met while both were classmates at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma.

The ex-boyfriend’s abusive behavior escalated over time, Umemoto said, and he broke into her apartment and installed software on her computer so he could monitor her online communications.

Umemoto, originally from Wapato in Eastern Washington, said she remembers authorities taking photos of her bruises and scratches when she went to the hospital after he became physically violent with her in February 2008. That was just after she had returned to Washington from the Miss America Pageant.

“I didn’t stand a chance trying to fight back,” she said. The ex-boyfriend, a football player at PLU, later was convicted of a charge stemming from the domestic violence incident, she said.

Today, Umemoto is speaking out. Part of that work includes helping the Washington Attorney General’s Office as an advocate for its efforts to pass legislation to create stiffer penalties for repeat domestic violence offenders.