USC student says university mishandled rape investigation
A USC student said Monday that she believes university officials performed a shoddy investigation when she told them last year that she had been raped by her then-boyfriend in 2010.
Tucker Reed, who has blogged extensively about her alleged rape, said that she informed USC officials about the incident in December 2012, after she told police. But school officials told Reed, who recently finished her junior year, that they could not do anything because there was not enough evidence.
“The process made me feel raped a second time,” Reed said at a news conference on USC’s campus.
Reed and other alleged victims filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education in May detailing 100 cases.
The case is the latest in a series of investigations looking at sexual assault allegations at colleges and universities throughout the nation, including reported cases at Occidental College and Dartmouth University.
Occidental officials have hired two former sex crimes prosecutors to complete an extensive review of the university’s handling of sexual abuse cases.
The USC case was apparently triggered after a complaint signed by two USC students was submitted to federal officials in May. The two students said more than 100 students detailed cases in which USC officials mishandled alleged rape and sexual assault cases.
In a written statement, Jody Shipper, USC’s Title IX coordinator and executive director of the Office of Equity and Diversity, confirmed that USC is being investigated by the Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights. She said opening such a probe “in no way implies that [the Office of Civil Rights] has made a determination with regard to their merits.”
Further, she said, USC looks forward to working with federal officials to address any concerns that arise.
“The university remains vigilant in addressing any issues promptly and fully as they arise,” she said.
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