PRICE — There have been many changes at USU-Eastern in the eight months since an anonymous tip alleged that men's basketball players sexually assaulted a female student athlete in a dorm room on campus.
There have not, however, been any criminal charges filed in the case.
Carbon County prosecutors have met several times to discuss what, if any, charges could come from the incident that occurred on Sept. 4, 2015. But they said the alleged victim’s unwillingness to meet with them has made a complicated case even more difficult.
“We haven’t made a decision one way or the other,” said prosecutor Jeremy Humes. “We really hoped we’d be able to meet with the victim first, but we’ve really had a hard time doing that.”
He said they’ve set up several appointments with the woman, who left school shortly after the alleged sexual assault, none of which she kept. The woman told the Deseret News she does want officials to prosecute the three men accused of sexually assaulting her.
“I know at the beginning I was avoiding them, and honestly it was because I didn’t know what I wanted at the time, and I thought it was just going to be a waste of time,” she said Monday. “But now that I feel like I have more support and people actually have my back and have opened my eyes about this whole situation, now I do want to keep going.”
Part of the issue for the woman is that she doesn’t have any memory of what happened to her. The incident was reported to college officials by a student who witnessed a portion of the alleged sexual assault, and it was a school counselor who informed her of the information received from the witness. That counselor then encouraged her to seek medical help, even accompanying her to the hospital, along with two friends.
It was reported to police by school officials.
Police issued a 64-page police report on the investigation that involved dozens of students, coaches and school officials. The report details how three male students, two of them basketball players, had sexual contact with the woman. All witnesses said she was incoherent, most likely because of alcohol.
One man “admitted to receiving oral sex from an intoxicated” woman, the report said. A second man changed his story several times but concluded with an admission that he received oral sex and that the first man did also. He also implicated a third man, who was not a member of the basketball team.
“(He) said he may have heard (the woman) tell (man No. 3) to stop,” the report states.
The third man offered the most conflicted version of events to investigators. Not only did he change his story multiple times, he also changed what he heard and saw involving the other men. He also said members of the team threatened him because of information he gave to police, but then he later recanted that allegation.
A number of pictures, texts and videos were recovered from electronic devices, including the phones of the three men and one witness.
Humes said the standard prosecutors must meet is significant.
“The unique thing about this case is we have so many different versions that nearly directly contradict each other,” Humes said. “When you’re looking at beyond reasonable doubt standard, it’s difficult when you’ve got that many versions. … On the difficulty scale, this is more difficult than most.”
In the wake of this incident, there have been a number of changes at the college.
While the woman left school a few weeks after the assault, the three men no longer attend the school either, according to Tim Vitale, executive director for public relations at Utah State University. Privacy laws don’t allow him to give any information on why the students are no longer enrolled at USU-Eastern or if it was a result of the alleged assault.
Also, the USU-Eastern counselor who gave basketball coaches personal information about the woman, the basketball players and the case no longer works at USU-Eastern, Vitale said.
In the wake of the assault case, school administrators formed a task force to look at the school’s policies and procedures. Almost immediately the college revamped training offered to students on sexual assault and sexual harassment, including how to define terms like “consent” and report allegations.
“We felt like we needed to do more to make sure our students are educated on sexual misconduct,” he said. “We had an online training for sexual assault prevention, but we’re putting a renewed emphasis on it. … Following this incident, the student government brought in sexual assault survivors to talk about the issue.”
The incident also led to changes to the school's sexual harassment policy and the policies that outline how these cases are handled. The policy changes could be finalized by the USU board of trustees on Thursday, Vitale said.
“There were rules in place, but those were less clear before these changes,” he said. “We addressed it immediately, and we want to look at it even more comprehensively.”
Vitale said the national discussion about how to prevent and investigate allegations of sexual assault and sexual harassment on college campuses has added to their efforts.
“This isn’t just happening in Price,” he said. “This is happening across the country, and we want to ensure we’ve done everything possible to ensure our students are protected.”
Meanwhile, Humes isn’t ruling out criminal charges. He said prosecutors still hope to meet with the alleged victim before making a final decision. The woman said she plans to make contact with them as soon as her work schedule allows.
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