A former student at the University of North Carolina claims she was raped while a student in Chapel Hill, and she says local police encouraged her not to press forward after the matter.
“I was brutally raped and beaten, during the course of which I lost consciousness,” Jane told WNCN, which is not revealing her identity because of the nature of the attack.
Jane, which is not her real name, has her story and the hospital records to back it up — bruises on her neck and claw marks on her back. But she said at the time, 20 years ago, she was unsure whether or not to go to the police.
“Just your general fears about, you know, if I come forward is there going to be retaliation against me or is anything actually going to be done?” she said. “It took me a few days, but finally, with the help of friends, I gathered the strength to go to the police.”
She went to the Chapel Hill Police Department, because she says the rape was off campus. But she says she felt like police were not a responsive as they should have been.
“I feel like I was just completely and totally shot down,” she said. She said she was told, “The defense attorneys are going to find everything you’ve ever done bad in your past, they’re going to find every person you’ve ever slept with, they’re going to do everything they can to destroy your character.”
She continued, “I was also told, because I was underage drinking, that if I did press charges that this would become public. Therefore the fact that I was underage drinking at a bar would become public knowledge and therefore legally they would have to do something about that as well.”
She said she felt the police encouraged her not to file a report.
“And then I just left there crushed, because I felt like no one wanted to help me,” she said. So Jane left the police department and, fearing retaliation, never filed a report. As a result, Chapel Hill Police have nothing on record about Jane’s visit.
Sgt. Josh Mecimore said Chapel Hill Police are not instructed to warn people of the consequences of filing a report. He said that while there have been changes in the way they handle rape reports, even 20 years ago, the rules were clear.
“We try as an agency to recognize the stresses that that puts on a victim,” he said. “And that’s why we have these resources in place, and have for so many years, to try to make sure that we’re helping those people who are victimized come forward.”
UNC is currently dealing with a public relations nightmare. The U.S. Department of Education is investigating multiple complaints about how the school handles sexual assault reports.
