FSU Underreported Rape Cases to U.S.

Unsealed court papers on Wednesday revealed that Florida State University underreported the total number of students who claimed to be sexually battered, a phrase that the state considers the same as rape. In a New York Times open records request, depositions show Melissa Ashton, the former director of the college’s Victim Advocate Office, testified in 2014 that 113 students reported being sexually battered. The school only reported nine cases to the federal government. Ashton testified in connection to the federal lawsuit filed by a former student, who alleged the school failed to properly investigate her claim that Heisman winner Jameis Winston raped her in 2013. Ashton also said about 40 football players had been accused of either sexual assault or “intimate partner” violence during her nine-year tenure, and only one person had been found responsible. In a statement, the college said it had “no way to confirm or deny” the allegations since Ashton’s conversations with victims were confidential.