Florida State University released a document earlier today defending its actions and handling of quarterback Jameis Winston's sexual assault investigation, Yahoo! Sports reported. The document also detailed FSU's own timeline of events.
Due to "misinformation in the media," FSU had said they were planning to release an outline of events beginning with the December 2013 incident.
''The University has remained silent for one reason: To protect our students, who are after all our highest priority,'' the statement read. ''But as we expect other stories to appear, it is abundantly clear that the continual drumbeat of misinformation about the University's actions causes harm to our students, faculty, alumni, supporters and the FSU community as a whole. Because of this, and within the constraints of state and federal privacy laws, we want to share with you more detail to set the record straight.''
FSU said that the only parties made aware of the incident before January 2013 were campus police, Tallahassee police and the Victims Advocate Program. As a way to help victims, the program is not required to share information with university officials. After Winston's lawyer said that the Tallahassee Police Department was "no longer pursuing the case," the athletics department decided not to file a report with a university administrator.
The school said that officials were not aware of the case until November 2013, following contact from the Tallahassee Police Department. State Attorney Willie Meggs, who took over the case in November 2013, did not press charges due to evidence flaws and inconsistencies in the woman's memory, according to Yahoo.
In the release, it is stated that the accuser was not made available for an interview with the school until Aug. 6, 2014. Lawyers for the woman, however, maintain that she was willing to speak with officials throughout the process.
Baine P. Kerr, one of the woman's attorneys, released a statement Friday claiming that a story is about to be revealed involving the case, and that FSU "is trying to do a little preventative damage control."
''The obvious news in its statement is that senior athletic department officials met with Winston and his lawyer one month after the rape occurred then decided to hide it from the Title IX office,'' Kerr said. ''The statement's timeline is full of errors but it shows that we can add both FERPA and the victim-advocate privilege to the list of laws Florida State is willing to break to protect this football program. What else can the school do wrong in this mess? The whole country is moving toward improving the response to campus rape reports while Florida State backpedals the other way.''
Department of Education guidelines make it clear that a school is required to conduct an investigation once it learns of an incident. Whether a complaint is filed or not does not affect this requirement.
''Who within the university knew what and when?'' is now what it comes to, said attorney James Ryan, a Title IX expert based in New York. ''And based on that, what was their response and how did the investigation take place? That, in a nutshell, is going to be the issue that is being examined by the university itself as well as anybody else on the outside looking in. That's generally the issue in all these cases. If you answer that properly, then you've complied with Title IX.''
FSU reopened its investigation after talking with the woman in August, and the statement said it is nearing "a final resolution of the complaint."
