Utah State University faces second sexual assault law suit in three years
Two women are suing Utah State University, and are seeking to recover damages that they say the university caused through misconduct in handling accusations against former USU football player and student, Torrey Green.
The women, who were both raped by Green, filed the lawsuit within the United States.S. Federal District Court in Salt Lake City on Monday. The lawsuit alleges that USU failed to investigate claims of sexual misconduct against Green.
The lawsuit claims that the University violated Title IX for failing to provide academic assistance, health or psychological services to the defendants and failing to warn students of “the known danger of sexual assault posed by Green.”
According to the lawsuit, both of the plaintiffs have experienced severe emotional disturbance, leading both of the women to discontinue their education at USU. The lawsuit says that one of the plaintiffs “has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of the
Attack,” and the plaintiff continues to “suffer from nightmares, health problems, difficulty eating, and other severe effects.”
In addition to negative emotional and mental health resulting from Green’s assaults, the plaintiffs have also experienced issues in physical health. According to the lawsuit, one of the plaintiffs was hospitalized for an infection resulting from a sexually transmitted disease from Green, eventually leading to an appendectomy, or surgical removal of the appendix for the plaintiff.
In January 2019, Green was found guilty in eight verdicts, including five counts of rape, one count of sexual assault, one count of object rape and one count of forcible sexual abuse. in March, Green was sentenced to serve 26 years to life in prison for these verdicts.
The lawsuit also says that USU is responsible for “creating a climate that tolerated sexual assault and other misconduct by students generally and Green specifically, or, alternatively being deliberately indifferent,” thus depriving the plaintiffs to “equal access of the educational benefits” of USU.
Last year The Salt Lake Tribune reported that a USU internal investigation in 2016 found numerous campus employees were unaware of which departments were responsible for responding to sexual misconduct reports, and a number of campus employees had failed to act after learning of possible sexual misconduct on campus.
USU Associate Vice President of Communications and University Spokesman Tim Vitale acknowledged USU’s mistakes in their handling of the Torrey Green Case and also addressed the lawsuit.
“USU has publicly acknowledged it fell short in several ways in addressing sexual assaults on campus in the Torrey Green case, and we are continuing to address those university-wide systemic problems,” Vitale said.
“This lawsuit, however, as filed, relies on countless incorrect assumptions, misrepresents how universities are able to address sexual assaults, and contains a number of outright factual errors,.” he continued.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs are seeking to be awarded economic damages and non-economic damages, their attorney’s fees and costs and other forms of relief to be determined at trial.
The lawsuit also named Utah State Board of Regents and the Utah State University Board of Trustees as defendants, along with USU employees Krystin Deschamps and Jenny Erazo, who work as USU director student conduct & community standards and coordinator of USU’s Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information office (SAAVI) respectively.
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