A North Carolina-Chapel Hill student came forward on Tuesday to claim that she was raped by a member of the football team, and that she feels the university and the police met her claim with "discouragement and delay."
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The woman, Delaney Robinson, released a statement on Tuesday, claiming that she was raped and assaulted on campus in an incident on February 14.
From Robinson's original statement:
I did everything a rape victim is supposed to do. I reported it. I allowed the rape kit to be taken. I gave a statement. I cooperated with law enforcement and the Title IX office. But six months later the University has done nothing.
Robinson's statement also claims that investigators in the case asked her "humiliating and accusatory questions", questioning her underage drinking at the time and asking about her sexual history. She blasts the same investigators for what she viewed as them providing "reassurances" to her alleged rapist in interviews.
ABC 11 out of Raleigh is reporting that the football player in question is linebacker Allen Artis. They also report that the District Attorney's office says the the case was "investigated thoroughly", and that they declined to prosecute the case.
Robinson's attorney, Denise Branch, released her own statement stating that the District Attorney chose not to prosecute because "unconsciousness is rape, black out drunk is not rape."
From Branch's statement:
The Title IX office has refused to render a decision in this case, despite concluding their investigation nearly three months ago. The Orange County District Attorneys has pronounced that "unconsciousness is rape, black out drunk is not rape." Therefore, because my client did not drink to the point of unconsciousness before she was raped, the Orange Count District Attorney has declined to prosecute this case.
Delaney has given the University and the Orange County District Attorney's Office more than ample time and opportunity to act. yet both have failed to do so. Therefore, we have just come from the Orange County courthouse where we met with a magistrate and requested warrants for the arrest of the UNC student who raped and assaulted Delaney.
Robinson, her father, and Branch held a press conference on Tuesday to reiterate the same statements above. Branch also made a rather pointed statement on the investigation of this sexual assault.
"This police force is not capable of properly investigating a sexual assault case to a proper resolution."
**This story will be updated as more information is made available**
[H/T Jeremy Vernon]
