In the space of a few days in early September, two young women complained to University of Notre Dame police of alleged sexual attacks in campus dorms. Months later, prosecutors declined to file charges in either case. What happened in between is perhaps the most troubling part of the story.
The U.S. Department of Education is looking into the university’s response to the women’s reports. Their families aren’t satisfied, and we don’t blame them.
“If there was a prompt, thorough and comprehensive investigation conducted and they came to the conclusion in consultation with the prosecutor that they could not successfully prosecute the individual, I would rely on that,” the father of one of the women, himself a former prosecutor, told Tribune reporters.
That’s not what happened, which is why both families shared their stories despite deep ties to Notre Dame. The families say campus police were slow to question witnesses and obtain evidence and resisted communicating about the investigations.
In the first case, campus police didn’t interview the suspect until 14 days after the alleged attack was reported — by which time his accuser had committed suicide.
In the second case, the suspect was interviewed 11 days after a report was filed. The alleged victim in that case summed up a September meeting with a detective in a Perkins restaurant: “It seemed that protecting Notre Dame was her (the detective’s) best interest, not me,” she said.
Notre Dame says it doesn’t tolerate sexual misconduct on campus and defends the work of its department, which is a licensed police agency under Indiana law. But it says concerns about privacy, including a federal law that limits the release of student records, prevent it from disclosing details of police investigations — even to the families of the alleged victims. It also says its policy is to guard against “external scrutiny” unless a student’s conduct results in criminal charges.
The university needs to acknowledge an inherent conflict: Its reputation as a stronghold of Catholic teaching and a safe place for students to live and learn is at odds with allegations of sexual assault.
Students and their families deserve assurance that such complaints will be treated the same whether the incidents occur on campus or not. The university should turn complaints over immediately to the St. Joseph County Police Department for investigation instead of presenting its own findings to prosecutors.
Law enforcement experts interviewed by Tribune reporters were surprised at the lack of urgency displayed by campus police, saying such delays could compromise evidence in an investigation. The experts also raised questions about why the police had limited contact with the women after the initial complaints were filed.
The unfortunate reality with such cases is that there is rarely a satisfactory resolution. In both cases, the suspects said the encounters were consensual. In the second case, the woman told police she was “very intoxicated” and couldn’t remember what happened in the dorm room, though she was sure she would not have agreed to have sex.
It’s one word against another, often with alcohol thrown in, with both parties — and the university — exposed to harsh scrutiny. That’s precisely why Notre Dame should recuse itself from those cases. A rigorous, timely and independent investigation is needed to protect the university’s students and its reputation.
