Mizzou 2010 rape case, appears UM dropped the ball

[SemperHawg]

Keepin it classy in Columbia.

http://m.espn.go.com/general/story?storyId=10323102&i=TWT&w=1dob7

[jbcarol]

Richard Deitsch ‏@richarddeitsch  6h
The public perception game: Missouri publishes emails ESPN reporters sent to the school as part of its reporting: http://www.mutigers.com/genrel/012414-otl-exchange.html ...

[jbcarol]

Dani Wex ‏@DaniWex  6h
Journalism revolves around reporting & using words/pictures/video to share findings. Nothing's more important than choosing correct words

RamsHerd ‏@RamsHerd  5h
@DaniWex Sharing universal truths, or thinking specifically on the ESPN / Mizzou imbroglio?

Dani Wex ‏@DaniWex  5h
@RamsHerd both. We're supposed to be the watchdogs, not abuse our power of using major headlines to attract clicks.

[jbcarol]

Joe Walljasper ‏@JoeWalljasper  10h
ESPN's Outside the Lines' story on MU's handling of a possible rape of swimmer Sasha Menu Courey by football player. http://ow.ly/sVff4

[Buff]

And DGB's mama didn't want him to play for that meanie Petrino

[mizzouman]

Two sides to every story. This story is completly one sided. Yes, I'm a  Mizzou grad, but don't take it from me. People who don't have a dog in this fight are saying this is a hatchet job. The angle of this story is clearly to defame a university rather than to shed light on what the story should have been about which is the mental health of college athletes.

Anyway, before passing judgment, one should read both sides of the story.

[Hogfaniam]

"given statistics showing that one in five women is a survivor of attempted or completed sexual violence while in college."  Wonder if that is an extrapolation, or actual cases?  How many go unreported? 

[ldfergu]

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10323102/university-missouri-officials-did-not-pursue-rape-case-lines-investigation-finds

It seems that they are trying to cover their tracks as they didn't do much to help this girl out at the time...

[jbcarol]

STL Sports News ‏@STL_SportsNews  13h
MU says it had no basis to investigate alleged rape of athlete http://bit.ly/LTVfoI

[SemperHawg]

Two sides to every story. This story is completly one sided. Yes, I'm a  Mizzou grad, but don't take it from me. People who don't have a dog in this fight are saying this is a hatchet job. The angle of this story is clearly to defame a university rather than to shed light on what the story should have been about which is the mental health of college athletes.

Anyway, before passing judgment, one should read both sides of the story.

The one fact we know with any certainty is that the alleged victim can no longer share her side of the story.  I understand your loyalty to your school, however I cringe seeing words like "hatchet job" used to describe any story involving a young person taking their own life.

[jbcarol]

MrSEC:

Alleged rape at Missouri reportedly involving members of the football team in 2010 gets spotlight treatment on ESPN's "Outside The Lines."

Missouri responds with a statement and a critique: "It is important to point out this type of skewed and flawed reporting because it is dangerous." ESPN responds to the response.

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10323102/university-missouri-officials-did-not-pursue-rape-case-lines-investigation-finds (video)

http://www.mutigers.com/genrel/012614aaa.html  Mizzou Statement

http://www.mutigers.com/genrel/012614aac.html  Mizzou Statement in response to OTL

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10354400/missouri-tigers-report-alleged-rape-sasha-menu-courey-columbia-police-lines  ESPN's response to Mizzou's response

[jbcarol]

University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe has asked for an independent investigation into MU's handling of the case of former Mizzou swimmer Sasha Menu Courey, who committed suicide in June 2011 after allegedly being sexually assaulted by MU football players.

Wolfe sent an email to the chancellors of the four UM system campuses Sunday afternoon notifying them of his request that the university Board of Curators hire independent counsel to conduct the review.

"Such an independent review will be beneficial to all our campuses so that we can determine if there were any shortcomings with respect to MU's handling of this matter and, if so, ways in which to improve the handling of such matters in the future," Wolfe wrote.

Wolfe has also asked that the four campuses lead a comprehensive review of their "policies, training and procedures concerning the prevention and reporting of sexual assaults and the availability of mental health services."

[jbcarol]

For all the trauma they've absorbed and haunting questions unanswered about the suicide of their daughter, former Mizzou swimmer Sasha Menu Courey, her parents' quest now is simple: To ensure that the disturbing, complicated circumstances that preceded her death, as outlined Sunday on ESPN's "Outside The Lines," don't mean she died in vain.

http://www.kansascity.com/2014/01/26/4778874/parents-say-the-system-failed.html

Did the system fail at Missouri?

[jbcarol]

A spokesman for the Columbia (Mo.) Police Department confirmed Monday that detectives have begun an investigation into allegations that a former University of Missouri swimmer had been sexually assaulted in 2010, possibly by more than one member of the football team.

"Our detectives will take a look at the information and determine what leads need to be followed, and what needs to happen next," Sgt. Joe Bernhard said. "Cases like this are problematic when there's a four-year delay and no [living] victim."

http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10359661/columbia-police-open-investigation-alleged-rape-missouri

[jbcarol]

bryan burwell ‏@realbburwell 6 hrs
Today's column raises tough questions we should all want answered from Mizzou: Independent' probe not enough http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bryan-burwell/burwell-independent-probe-not-enough-at-mizzou/article_a2e3b025-c710-52ec-a860-4fc8635c1696.html ...

[revolution]

Maybe the answer to this question is in all these articles, but it seems that the MU perspective is that all the university personnel who were told about the assault by this young girl are exempt from reporting to law enforcement without the alleged victim's permission, but my question is, "did any of those people ask for permission to report the incident or encourage the alleged victim to do so?"  If not, why not?  Are they hiding behind the fact that they aren't legally mandated reporters?  What about decency as a human being?  Or maybe I just don't understand the medical community. 

Why would a counselor not want to report a potential violent crime?  I understand that a medical professional should not and cannot report without the patient's / alleged victim's consent, but shouldn't that professional be involved in seeing that an appropriate response is made to the alleged assault if the alleged victim will allow?  Why would a medical professional not pursue that possibility?  Or maybe they did in this case and were rebuffed by the alleged victim?

[jbcarol]

With an impassioned response to the allegations that rocked his flagship institution last week, University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe gave a voice to his proposed investigation into the rape accusations of former Mizzou swimmer Sasha Menu Courey, who committed suicide in June 2011.

"It's unfortunately a tragic situation that's kind of personal to me because I'm a parent of a female freshman student-athlete myself," Wolfe said. "What's important to us at the University of Missouri is the safety of our students. We take this very seriously."

"What I feel as a parent is one of our students is dead," he added during a 30-minute news conference. "And I don't want to feel that anymore. Our goal is to help Sashas of the world and try to give them the necessary mental health support or whatever support they need, for any of our students, in a way that we can never let this happen again."

President Wolfe declined to comment on specifics.

[jbcarol]

On Thursday night, Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden spoke for the first time about the ESPN "Outside the Lines" report on former MU swimmer Sasha Menu Courey, who committed suicide in June 2011 after battling mental-health issues that were possibly exacerbated by an alleged rape by one or more Missouri football players. The ESPN story suggested MU made questionable decisions dealing with Menu Courey's mental illness and said the school might have violated the federal law Title IX by failing to launch an investigation of the alleged rape.

Until Thursday night, Alden, who was in Florida at a National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics meeting over the weekend, had not consented to interviews. That was particularly troubling because the recent spate of high-profile MU athletes accused of sexual assaults — including the cases of football player Derrick Washington and basketball player Mike Dixon — has called into question whether he is serious about investigating or disciplining athletes unless the media forces his hand...

Q: You have now had three high-profile cases of sexual assaults with athletes in the last few years. In your mind, how has your department handled the aftermath of each of those?

A: You certainly think that all of your kids are doing things well, everything is going well. However, when you see something like that, it makes you step back and want to make sure that you're doing things the right way. I think for us, when we've had those issues and they've come up, after we've identified them, we've tried to respond in an appropriate fashion comprehensively throughout the institution. You would hope that you have, certainly. But what I want to make sure is we don't see those instances continue to come up and we continue to deal with them better going forward. I think overall we've tried to address them in the best fashion we could. I think going forward, if those ever come up again, you want to see what you can do to even improve how you respond...

Transcript, more in full at the link above, provided by Sports Editor, Joe Walljasper.

[DeltaBoy]

Heads are going to roll at the Zoo!

[jbcarol]

Dave Matter ‏@Dave_Matter  7h
UM System curators hire Clayton's Dowd Bennett law firm to handle Menu Courey investigation. Among 5 attorneys on case, none are MU grads

[jbcarol]

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost  5h
Contract details fees for law firm doing inquiry into MU's handling of Menu Courey case http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/contract-details-fees-for-law-firm-doing-inquiry-into-mu/article_d11247a2-9e4f-11e3-9b42-10604b9ffe60.html ... #Mizzou #Columbia

David Morrison ‏@DavidCMorrison  5h
That story, from @ajost, says the Menu Courey independent counsel capped billable hours at $120K. Coming from interest in MU's cash account.

[jbcarol]

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost ·2 hrs
The curators are going to be briefed on what the independent counsel found re: Sasha Menu Courey sometime next week before/during their mtg.

[jbcarol]

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost ·Mar 31
There will be no public announcement re: the independent counsel this week.

[jbcarol]

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost  3h
.@UMPrez announces that he has issued an executive order to help strengthen the university's reporting policies under Title IX.

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost  3h
The exec order requires a person report any sexual harassment to Title IX coordinator, unless they are a lawyer, health professional, etc.

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost  3h
RT @columbiatribune @UMPrez order stricter Title IX reporting requirements. http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/um-president-orders-stricter-title-ix-reporting-requirements/article_0a539772-bf67-11e3-9970-0017a43b2370.html ...

University of Missouri System President Tim Wolfe announced today that he has issued an executive order to strengthen the university's reporting policies under Title IX.

The order states that every employee has an obligation to report sexual harassment and sexual violence perpetrated against students to the appropriate Title IX coordinator. All employees are considered "mandated reporters" except for those who have a legal obligation or privilege of confidentiality, including health care providers, counselors, lawyers and associated staff, according to the updated Collected Rules and Regulations.

...

This announcement comes days before the Board of Curators meet in Rolla and are set to hear from independent counsel hired to investigate how the University of Missouri handled the case of Sasha Menu Courey, a former MU swimmer who was allegedly raped and later committed suicide.

Menu Courey reported the rape to health professionals and wrote in a diary that she told an athletic department staffer about the attack. Health professionals are generally required to keep confidentiality, and the university has said it had no evidence that anyone in the athletic department knew about a rape until after Courey's death./quote]

[jbcarol]

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost ·23 mins
.@UMPrez starts with apology to Menu Courey's parents and friends for any of the university's "shortcomings."

[jbcarol]

 STL Sports News @STL_SportsNews  ·  1h ago 
University of Missouri did not violate law, says report on sex assault case http://chilp.it/9d7091

[RoyInSpringdale/MizzouFan]

Admittedly a Mizzou fan, but if the victim wants to keep the incident quiet, do we ignore the victim's wishes? Right or wrong, if a victim prefers no attention, do we disregard? Each person handles trauma and depression in different ways. I don't know if painting a broad stroke legally is perhaps the correct solution for each victim. A little perplexed about the situation regardless of the school.

[Hogwop]

Heads are going to roll at the Zoo!

Cmon DB, you're better than that. I hate Mizzou as much as anyone, but a girl took her life here. This isn't like Mizzou got caught paying recruits or anything, this is about far more than sports and team allegiances, IMO.

[jbcarol]

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost ·Apr 12
On the @columbiatribune: Independent counsel critical of aspects of MU's handling of the Sasha Menu Courey case http://bit.ly/1iGanQZ

[jbcarol]

Dave MatterVerified account ‏@Dave_Matter ·40m 
Today's P-D Editorial: MU acts to protect students and stop coddling athletes  http://www.stltoday.com/news/opinion/editorial-mu-acts-to-protect-students-and-stop-coddling-athletes/article_54052e2f-bc68-5381-8222-ef618cab8864.html ...

Long-simmering problems tied to the University of Missouri's athletic program came to a boil on Friday with a critical independent report about a sexual assault case and the dismissal from the Tigers...

[jbcarol]

 Tim Wolfe @UMPrez  ·  2h  I will announce a new step in our process to improve reporting/preventing sexual assault and mental health services later today

[jbcarol]

  Dave Matter @Dave_Matter  ·  3h 
Univ of Missouri System hires National Center for Higher Education Risk Management to provide third-party assessment of new task force

Dave Matter @Dave_Matter  ·  3h 
The national consultant will help with sexual assault & mental health services task force on four UM campuses http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/news/news_releases/041614_news ...

Katie Hnida @KatieHnida  ·  2h 
The #FloridaState rape "investigation" is a great example of why victims don't speak up. Horrified at some of the reactions I've seen today

1st woman to play FBS football

[jbcarol]

Ashley Jost ‏@ajost  Apr 18
From yesterday: Sasha Menu Courey's father recalls phone call with @UMPrez http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/education/sasha-menu-courey-s-father-recalls-phone-call-with-um/article_efcf9fd0-c656-11e3-88dc-10604b9f6eda.html ... #Mizzou #HigherEd

[jbcarol]

 Matt Sanders @mattksanders  ·  52m

No Missouri colleges on Title IX investigations list released today. http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-list-higher-education-institutions-open-title-i ...

[jbcarol]

Dave Matter @Dave_Matter  ·  1h

ESPN's Outside the Lines reexamines accusations against former Missouri running back Derrick Washington http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/11381416/missouri-tulsa-southern-idaho-face-allegations-did-not-investigate-title-ix-cases ...


Dave Matter @Dave_Matter  ·  1h

Statement from Missouri chancellor R. Bowen Loftin to ESPN regarding OTL story: http://www.espn.go.com/pdf/2014/0818/MissouriStatement.pdf ...

[jbcarol]

Alden, Pinkel claim they weren't aware of Title IX procedure

Missouri Athletic Director Mike Alden and football Coach Gary Pinkel said Friday they knew about the 2008 rape allegation concerning former running back Derrick Washington shortly after the incident occurred and, to the best of their knowledge at the time, followed the proper chain of command.

Alden and Pinkel met the media a day after ESPN's "Outside the Lines" published a story uncovering the 2008 allegation against Washington, as well as an incident from May 2010 in which he allegedly punched a Missouri women's soccer player during a fight involving her and his ex-girlfriend.

When Pinkel found out police had interviewed Washington on Oct. 24, nearly two weeks after the player allegedly forced himself on a female student, he told Alden. When Alden found out from Pinkel, he alerted then-Chancellor Brady Deaton, the university's public affairs staff and other officials.

Alden said he and Pinkel were not aware of their responsibility to also report the incident to the campus' Title IX coordinator for a possible university investigation into the instance of alleged sexual violence.

"Today, I am aware of all of that," Alden said...

Washington, on Thursday, told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he did have sex with the alleged victim in the 2008 case but did not assault her. He denied punching the soccer player in 2010. Pinkel suspended him indefinitely from the team on Aug. 26, 2010, four days before he was arrested and charged with felony deviate sexual assault for sneaking into the bedroom of former athletic department tutor Teresa Braeckel and sexually assaulting her in June 2010. He later left the university.

Pinkel said he discussed the 2008 allegations with Washington at the time but did not take any disciplinary action against him because no charges were going to be filed against him.

University police did file a warrant request to Boone County assistant prosecutor Andrew Scholz on Nov. 5, 2008, but he did not press charges. He told the Tribune there were multiple points in police interviews with witnesses who the alleged victim told of the assault would have made it very difficult to prosecute the case.

"It's all about the information. When the police get involved then, certainly, they are investigators. They are professionals. That's what they do," Pinkel said. "And if they decide that they're not going to press charges, then I'm not going to remove a player from the team for that. I'm not doing that. It's not consistent with any way I've handled any situation that I've had here before. That's kind of what happened in that case."

Pinkel said he referred to the 2008 allegations in a conversation with Washington after he found out about Braeckel's claim in 2010.

"I said to him, 'Two years ago and now? This is serious,' " Pinkel recalled. " 'You might be dismissed from the program. The police are investigating this. We've got problems here.' "

[jbcarol]

Ashley Jost @ajost  ·  38m
.@umsystem to roll out Title IX training  http://m.columbiatribune.com/news/education/university-of-missouri-set-to-roll-out-title-ix-training/article_49fea863-08eb-52f4-a848-edb08583dbb5.html ...

[jbcarol]

Austin Kim @AustinKKim  ·  54m 54 minutes ago
Updated story on Columbia Police closing its investigation on the Sasha Menu-Courey case: http://www.abc17news.com/news/police-case-closed-on-sasha-menu-courey-case/31867070 ...

Tod Palmer @todpalmer  ·  2h 2 hours ago
Here is the complete press release regarding the closing of the Menu Courey investigation by CPD: http://www.gocolumbiamo.com/CMS/pressrelea