Trial On CSC Handling Of Aftermath Of 2016 Sexual Assault Continues

      The federal trial 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 began its second week Mon.

      Criminal charges were not filed against the man, but a CSC investigation showed the two did have non-consensual sex and the man continued even when the woman, referred to in the suit and during the trial as Jane Doe, said no multiple times. 

      The lawsuit focuses on what happened in the weeks after the incident and whether moves made by the college met the requirements of the Title IX civil rights law for “immediate action” to deal with and prevent sexual harassment and abuse.

    Nebraska Public Media says former CSC Director of Students Affairs Pat Beu continued the testimony Mon that he began on Friday on some of the actions taken against the male student and to protect Jane Doe, including moving her student job to another residence hall.

     Doe had been attacked working the desk at Andrews Hall, but rather than leaving her there and moving the man, she was moved to the desk at Brooks Hall and the man was allowed to stay in his old room in Andrews.

      Beu explained both days that the change was made to give Doe more control over her own safety since Brooks has one entrance and Andrews is part of a 3 dorm complex with multiple entrances and where the desk can’t monitor internal movement.

     Doe’s attorney, Maren Chaloupka of Scottsbluff, said Doe had expected her attacker to be banned from Andrews and that allowing him to stay where he was and instead moving her seemed like punishing Doe, who lost a familiar workplace and coworkers.

    Beu said he understood Doe’s frustration and anger over the moves, admitting that the college had done a poor job of communicating to her what was being done and why.

    Beu also described how the male student had failed to take a required online class on consent when he first enrolled and was ordered to take it as part of his sanctions after the attack. 

     He scored 90% on the pre-assessment test and 100% after the class, leading Beu to admit it showed that the man didn’t need the class to understand no meant no.  

Chaloupka and her first expert witness criticized the college’s sanctions on the male student, saying that instead of helping protect Doe the school focused on helping him learn and grow.