Deathofthebambino said:
Not sure I follow? From the bolded quote, it seems like the school is helping her go to law enforcement. What's the irritating part?
Perhaps I'm reading too much into this, but I knew women who were raped on campus in the early 90s. From what I was told, they were given the distinct impression that the school would 'handle everything' and that any involvement of the police would be 'messy.' Of course, it often wasn't handled at all, or in a way that was remotely appropriate. That was especially frustrating given that PC was (is?) big on the whole
in loco parentis idea, in keeping with the concept that the college is a Catholic university that ministers to its students from a Catholic perspective. (Of course, this was just before the sexual abuse scandals in the church were getting publicity.)
Anyway, I wonder if PC has matured with the times. The timing puts my antennae up.
In this case the assault apparently occurred on Nov 2, 2013. It came to the attention of the school authorities, because there was an investigation and a suspension of the players in Dec. 2013, although they were still allowed to attend the school. The victim contacted the Providence Police in March 2014.
Despite one statement of the school that they "encourage students to go to law enforcement," I think it's somewhat telling that PC made another statement saying, "
“When she let us know she wanted to go to law enforcement, we helped her contact police and drove her to and from the station.".
I think there's a bit of dissonance there. If PC is serious about its duty to its students, did it actively encourage the woman to get a "rape kit" which might allow her to later prosecute? Did they provide her with counselors who usually urge documentation and reporting? Did they even give her a contact number for the Providence Police? The issue isn't so much a statute of limitations, as it is that evidence can be destroyed and/or stories agreed upon if there's a 4 month gap between the assault and the beginning of the investigation.
Then there's the issue of how the school handled this disciplinary proceeding vis a vis the victim. Did the school give her legal advice in some way? What was she told? Was she encouraged to do anything? Why go for a disciplinary hearing (which presumably required the victim to accuse someone) but not contact the police? When she did go to the police, why was it done "through" the school - did she feel she had to tell the school first?
Lastly there's the disciplinary hearing itself. If the school suspended two students for consensual sexual activity then that's just fucked up. If the school suspended two students for non-consentual sexual activity - i.e., rape or sexual assault, that's equally fucked up.
***
Who knows though? Facts are thin on the ground, and I am admittedly pre-judging what may have happened given my own experiences there.
It's possible the school acted completely above board and the victim later changed her mind about speaking to the police.
