Lawsuit filed as 19 women say Eastern Michigan had rape culture on campus and covered up assaults
FOX 2 - Attorney Todd Flood is representing 19 women who claim they were sexually assaulted at Eastern Michigan University - and says the Title IX office - which was supposed to investigate and protect the women - favored the assailants and helped cover it up.
"After you rape someone why would an assailant post a picture on social media - why he would do that? He knew he wouldn't get in trouble," Flood said.
New lawsuit says Eastern Michigan covered up pattern of student rapes
Attorney Todd Flood is representing 19 women who claim they were sexually assaulted at Eastern Michigan University - and says the Title IX office - which was supposed to investigate and protect the women - favored the assailants and helped cover it up.
The latest lawsuit involves 8 more women adding new allegations against fraternity houses, EMU police chiefs, and the board of regents which they claim helped support a rape culture on campus.
"Just the damages, the scars, the sadness they have had to overcome depression, it goes much deeper," he said.
In response, EMU said in a statement, "The university takes these matters with utmost seriousness," going on to say, "There is no place for sexual assault on, or off our campus, and we will do everything in our power to prevent this from happening."
In the meantime, the list of suspects continues to grow. At least four men are facing criminal charges years later, including former fraternity member D'Angelo McWilliams - who later became a Washtenaw County Sheriff's Deputy, but has been suspended as he awaits trial.
"Because they didn't get on the front end of this and it is not as though there weren't other instances that weren't publicly known," said Barbara Niess May.
May, the executive director of the Safe House Center in Washtenaw County, says the students should not have had to face such challenges to hold their assailants accountable, and likely wouldn't have, if emu had a dedicated program to support survivors of sexual assault, like other universities.
Documents involved in the lawsuit against EMU.
"It's been ignored for far too long and organizations need to step up to the plate and start building resources for survivors, believing survivors, providing help and support, holding assailants accountable, and educating the people around them that this is not okay," she said.
Until then, Flood believes, the list of survivors will continue to grow.
"I guarantee it," he said.