Charlottesville Police have suspended their investigation of a possible fraternity house rape at the University of Virginia – the subject of a Rolling Stone magazine article that was discredited. The cops are not closing the case, but they find no evidence that a crime occurred.
Charlottesville Police spent more than three months trying to figure out if the Rolling Stone story told by a woman called “Jackie” was true. They interviewed at least 70 people, sent questionnaires to all members of the fraternity where the attack allegedly occurred and spoke with most of those who were living at Phi Kappa Psi in 2012.
“Nine of the 11 residents were interviewed and had no knowledge regarding a sexual assault, nor did they know the person known as Jackie. Further investigation revealed no evidence that a party had taken place on September 28th as well.”
Police chief Tim Longo says officers were able to meet with Jackie herself after the Rolling Stone article appeared.
“She comes to the Charlottesville Police Department accompanied by Dean Laurie Casteen from the UVA dean of students’ office. She’s also present with legal counsel that she had acquired through Legal Aid Justice Center here in Charlottesville, and through her lawyer she refuses to give a statement or answer any questions. That doesn’t mean that something terrible didn’t happen to Jackie. We are just not able to gather sufficient facts to conclude what that something may have been.”
But many other findings cast doubt on Jackie’s veracity. She told a university administrator, for example, that in the spring of 2014 she was followed by four young men outside a strip of bars called the corner – that one called her name, then threw a bottle that hit the side of her face.
“She said that when she went home that night, her roommate, who was a nursing student actually had to help pick the glass particles from her face, and I will tell you that that roommate was subsequently interviewed, and she denies doing that.”
Jackie also claimed she had called her mother to report this second assault.
“We had an opportunity to look at phone records, and there is no such call outlined in those records.”
Longo said officers were unable to find any record of a man Jackie claimed she went out with on the night of the alleged rape, and no member of the fraternity in question fit his description.
And, finally, Longo said Jackie’s account of an assault at Phi Kappa Psi did not match what she had told the university.
“What Jackie stated to Dean Eramo, and what she later states to her friends that she meets with immediately thereafter – she describes a sexual act that is inconsistent with the information that’s provided in that article.”
Even so, Longo said the case remains open on the chance that someone who knows something might come forward, and he said Jackie would certainly not be prosecuted. He does want her to know, however, that delays in reporting crimes to police may reduce the odds of an arrest and conviction.
“With every second of every minute of every hour of every day, we lose testimonial evidence, we lose physical evidence, we lose forensic evidence, we lose the evidence that’s important to get to the truth behind these cases so that justice can prevail.”
UVA President Teresa Sullivan responded to Longo’s report by praising police for sharing information she said the university could not because of federal privacy laws. Specifically, she said, school officials were supportive of Jackie, and law enforcement was notified early of the alleged attack.
Sullivan said much work remained to be done. UVA was one of 55 schools singled out by the U.S. Department of Education for how it handled rape charges in the past, and the university is in the midst of a confidential, anonymous survey of students – asking questions about their experiences with sexual assault to try and figure out just how prevalent the problem might be.
