Civil Trial Underway On CSC Handling Of On-Campus Sexual Assault In 2016

      A trial is underway in federal court in Omaha on a lawsuit accusing Chadron State College and the Nebraska State College System of failing to adequately respond when a female student was sexually assaulted by a male student in September 2016.

      A CSC investigation showed the young woman, referred to in the suit and during the trial as Jane Doe, was working the desk in the basement of a residence hall when the male student had sex with her without her consent.

      The young man admitted Doe had not given him verbal consent for sex and that he had continued even after she said stop at least 3 times. The lawsuit focuses on what happened in the days and weeks after the incident.

     The college barred the man from having contact with Doe, including banning him from her on-campus workplace and requiring him to leave any place or activity she was at. 

    He was also placed on behavioral probation and assigned counseling and materials to read while Doe was allowed to finish her final semester of classes remotely.

    The U-S Dept of Education says Title IX, the federal civil rights law, requires schools that receive federal funds to protect students from sexual harassment and to “take immediate action” to end it, prevent any recurrence, and address its effect.   

      Scottsbluff attorney Maren Chaloupka told the jury in her opening statement that the actions Chadron State took didn’t go far enough in protecting Doe as they allowed the male student to remain on campus and required her to protect herself by giving up access to some college amenities.

     Attorney George Martin, representing CSC and the state college system, said Chadron State officials followed guidance on complying with Title IX and followed through on their training with no evidence of “deliberate indifference.” 

     Witnesses so far have included an expert on sexual abuse in colleges and universities, Doe’s former counselor, and the then-head of security at Chadron State.

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