Penn State frat members joked about online nude photos, documents say

Members of an invitation-only Facebook page run by Penn State University’s Kappa Delta Rho fraternity joked about photos of nude and semi-nude women that the group had posted online, according to court documents.

“Lol delete those or we will be on CNN in a week,” one member wrote in the group.

“373,217 views. All from us,” said one.

“Make that 373,218,” another replied.

The warrant said that the fraternity was “operating a private, invite only Facebook page which members share photos of unsuspecting victims, drug sales, and hazing.”

Fraternity members used drugs that “included marijuana and edible, concentrates, ADD medication, and some cocaine,” according to the warrant.

The Kappa Delta Rho chapter has been suspended for a year and police said those who posted the photos could face criminal charges.

The Penn State fraternity suspension comes after the University of Oklahoma’s Sigma Alpha Epsilon chapter was banned from campus because their members sang a racist chant against African Americans that was posted online. The SAE episode, which caused a national uproar, cast a spotlight on issues of racism and misconduct at fraternities.

At Penn State, a former fraternity member at the State College, Pa., campus, about 130 miles east of Pittsburgh, told police about the page in January, according to the police warrant.

“The images are disturbing, I’ll tell you that,” State College Assistant Police Chief John Gardner said during a Tuesday news conference. “I don’t want to get into any more specifics.”

Some of the posts showed nude women who appeared to be in “sexual or embarrassing positions,” a few of them apparently asleep or passed out, the warrant said.

“It appears from the photos provided that the individuals in the photos are not aware that the photos had been taken,” the document said.

State College Police Lt. Keith Robb said authorities are still working to determine who posted the photos and to identify potential victims. Anyone who posted pictures of the women could be arrested on charges including invasion of privacy, he told the Los Angeles Times.

The fraternity’s actions reflected “the most serious misconduct, most serious disregard of fraternity rules, policies and property,” Joseph Rosenberg, executive director of Kappa Delta Rho, said in a statement.

The Penn State chapter can appeal its suspension to the National Judiciary Committee, he said.

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