Montana Rape Investigation: Justice Department Looks At 80 Missoula Sexual Assaults

Thomas E. Perez, an assistant attorney general, announced the Justice Department's investigation into Montana's rape cases on Tuesday.

(Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department unveiled a broad probe on Tuesday into complaints that authorities were failing to aggressively investigate sexual assault reports in Missoula, Montana, citing more than 80 reported rapes there during the past three years.

The investigation includes a review of the handling of sexual assault and harassment reports at the University of Montana at Missoula, where at least 11 student-related sex assault cases have surfaced in recent months.

At least two members of the university's Big Sky Conference champion football team, the Grizzlies, have been accused of rape, leading to the recent dismissal of the football coach and the school's athletic director.

A central thrust of the federal investigation will focus on complaints that local law enforcement has failed to properly investigate and prosecute sexual assaults on women in Missoula due to gender discrimination, the Justice Department said.

"The allegations that the University of Montana, the local police department and the county attorney's office failed to adequately address sexual assaults are very disturbing," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement.

Local authorities said the incidence of rape in Missoula, a western Montana city of 86,000 people, is on par with similarly sized college towns, and the county's chief prosecutor questioned the Justice Department's rationale for its inquiry.

The investigation comes in the midst of an election year in which women's issues have moved to the forefront as candidates seek to burnish their credentials among female voters.

'STRONG CONCERNS' AMONG WOMEN CITED

The Justice Department probe will examine the inner workings of the university's public safety office, the Missoula Police Department and the Missoula County Attorney's Office.

Additionally, the department will review whether the university is complying with federal laws specifically barring sex discrimination, defined as including sexual assault and sexual harassment, in education programs, officials said.

Details of the investigation were announced at a news conference in Missoula, whose economy and identity are closely entwined with the state's flagship research institution.

"There are a lot of women in the community who have strong concerns about the manner in which sexual assaults have been handled," said Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez, head of the Justice Department's civil rights division.

The Justice Department said local law enforcement agencies in New Orleans, Puerto Rico and Maricopa County, Arizona, have been subjected to similar investigations.

Missoula Police Chief Mark Muir acknowledged his department had received roughly 80 rape reports in the past three years. But he said that on a per-capita basis, that figure was at or below the average level of reported rapes for U.S. college towns of similar size and makeup.

Muir, who said his department would cooperate with the inquiry, said he did not know how many of those reports had resulted in criminal charges being filed. Justice Department officials said they will be delving into that very question.

Missoula County's chief prosecutor, Fred Van Valkenburg, fiercely defended his office and the local police, calling the Justice Department probe an "overreach by the federal government."

"I have no reason to believe (police) violated anyone's rights," he said, adding that his office had no choice but to cooperate given "the heavy hand of a federal government that refuses to tell us what we supposedly have done wrong."

Concerns about the handling of sexual assaults in Missoula came to a head months ago at the University of Montana, a campus of some 15,600 students, after a spate of rapes were reported on campus, some involving student athletes.

A University of Montana report released in January identified nine alleged student-related sexual assaults or attempted assaults since late 2010, including a reported gang rape. Two more sexual assault allegations involving students have surfaced since then.

Criminal charges have been filed so far in just one of those 11 cases under scrutiny - against Grizzlies' running back Beau Donaldson, who is accused of raping a woman at his residence while she slept following a night of heavy drinking.

Donaldson, who has pleaded not guilty, has been suspended from the team.

The football team captain and quarterback Jordan Johnson was accused of rape in March and placed under a restraining order granted to his accuser. No charges have been brought and he, too, maintains his innocence.

(Reporting by Laura Zuckerman; Writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Paul Simao)

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Comments

[AMCD]

10:08 PM on 05/07/2012

For those of you that are exonerating men and blaming women, shame on you. I am disgusted and appalled at some of the comments I have read here today.

No mean no means no.

And how many women go through the trouble of claiming rape just for a judicial payday?

The conjecture about rape is that it's the day after regrets? Sickening. Disgusting pigs parading as men.

[zombywulf]

11:04 AM on 05/06/2012

Sex crimes by football players and other sports "stars" are NEVER actually investigated much less ever prosecuted. Sports are money makers for schools and they will never kill the golden goose, or let anyone get in it's way.

[valeball]

03:14 AM on 05/07/2012

*Sandusky*

[mariusvinchi]

09:52 AM on 05/05/2012

Unfortunately, this is a nationwide problem with campus police agencies. Especially with the new Federal reporting requirements. University police routinely "downgrade" criminal offenses, or fail to properly investigate them at all...What parent would send their daughters to a predator rich university? Unfortunately, most ARE just that!
At my alma mater we had a dozen armed robberies that went un-investigated until a student was shot outside of his dorm. Even then, it was the County police who investigate. I worked in the student clinic for two semesters and personally witnessed campus police explaining to victims that it would be a "he said, she said" and that they should "take advantage of campus counseling and move on." And they wonder why rape is the most under reported crimes!! Even when victims have the courage to come forward, they have to deal with investigators and university officials who are more concerned with image, than justice!
Equally disturbing were the results of an anonymous questionnaire to students, illustrating that a large majority of male students didn't think having sex with a stumbling, incoherent drunk, or passed out girl was not okay. Or that a girl can change her mind at any point and they should stop...

[AMCD]

09:52 PM on 05/07/2012

It has to start with fathers talking to their son's about what it means to be a man.

I've already had that conversation with my two boys, and will continue to bring it up. They are 11 and 12.

[cyanmanta]

03:52 AM on 05/04/2012

Has no one ever read Title IX? It essentially makes any kind of heterosexual intercourse that takes place on a college campus "rape". If a man has sex with a woman while she is intoxicated - even if he is also intoxicated - on a college campus, it is considered rape. If she has sex with him consensually, but two days later she says she regrets it, it's rape. If she consents to sex, but she "doesn't particularly feel like it", it's rape. Title IX has taken the word "rape" and turned it into a term that means nothing, doing a disservice to women who have legitimately been raped as well as to young men, who now live in a country where they can be sent to prison for having consensual sex with a woman. Title IX needs a rewrite, badly.

[thatdogguy]

12:07 PM on 05/04/2012

Thanks for pointing this out. People hear the word "Rape" and assume it always means a brutal, forced attack. As you pointed out, rape now includes so many situations, like regret the morning after, it's meaning has been watered down. The article says the investigation stems from complaints. I would like to know who is complaining and the particulars. For example, if a case is not prosecuted, say due to lack of credible evidence, the accuser isn't going to be happy, but that doesn't mean an actual rape occurred. I would like the DOJ to launch a probe into false rape accusations which some studies say account for over 60 percent of accusations.

[Dr JohnS]

06:11 PM on 05/04/2012

Please excuse me, but I read Title IX and it is about gender equality and not about sex other than no discrimination shall be based on gender.

[UofMexposed]

07:58 PM on 05/03/2012

Let's look at a few issues here. The UofM is a notoriously liberal university that openly supports many radical left-wing causes including radical feminism and free sexual practices. It should be no shocker that their open embrace of sexual revolution concepts has seeded a dark hidden population of rape issues of which they apparently tried to cover up as noted by a massive investigation. (80 rape allegations in 3 years!?) The UofM will never admit that their liberal world-view has anything to do with the rapes. Instead, they randomly fire a head UofM football coach without any reason or press conference as to why. What was the administration thinking? Secondly, the Grizzlies football team is wildly popular as well as a huge money maker for the community (perhaps #1 money maker), so it is not a surprise when there appears to be a collusion of entities protecting football players with rape allegations against them. For pete's sake, these students were allowed to play in important playoff games rather than face their charges! (Which flew in the face of NCAA standards) They were also given access to the best lawyers in the city. What does that tell you? *sigh* Alas, hopefully I am wrong and the Department of Justice turns up nothing, but if I am correct Missoula is in for a shock.

[MTwesty]

05:25 AM on 05/04/2012

This issue has nothing to do with partisan politics and to insinuate it does is disgusting.

[thatdogguy]

12:11 PM on 05/04/2012

You seem convinced there is a cover-up, but you might want to consider other similar headline cases that looked like a slam dunk and turned out to be a lie. Duke-Lacrosse is a prime example.

[timsurfs]

06:05 PM on 05/03/2012

There is nothing going on in Missoula. This is a tangential consequence of Post Penn State Paranoia. But that's just a hunch. I could be wrong. Could be a giant conspiracy that University officials acted in collusion with police and prosecuting officials in some systematic manner that protected athletes and didn’t take seriously charges of rape generally, in which case this investigation is exactly what’s needed.

Just going with Occam’s Razor. Either this whole investigation was brought on by a few accusations coming from the right people, or there is some giant conspiracy (one for which we have no evidence so far).

Prediction: countless of wasted manhours and womanhours and millions of dollars later, when the University and the police and the prosecutors are all exonerated, there will be no headline on HuffPo (or anywhere else, for that matter) declaring "NOTHING HAPPENED IN MISSOULA"

[Gregor53]

07:42 PM on 05/03/2012

"Local authorities said the incidence of rape in Missoula, a western Montana city of 86,000 people, is on par with similarly sized college towns, and the county's chief prosecutor questioned the Justice Department's rationale for its inquiry." That sound like the "prosecutor feels that 80 rapes in 3 years is just a average value for a college town of that size, so what is the big deal? That pretty much sums up their attitude so it would appear ther is some rationale to the inquiry.

[MTwesty]

06:25 AM on 05/04/2012

The final component is the university itself. The previous president was primarily interested in the success of the football and men's basketball programs. He and the recently fired AD covered a $1 million dollar shortfall in 2005 when the football program "accidently" overspent by diverting funds from academic and research programs on campus. The litany of illegal activities by some members of the football team is well known in town including beatings, a home invasion robbery, fighting with police, drug offenses, even one trial for murder in California. The previous president, AD and the previous coach (now at UNLV) covered for the football team. A few years ago the former coach refused to talk with the student newspaper because they had the nerve to report on a case the coach had worked hard with a booster to cover up the severe beating of the booster's son. This past fall, two events highlighted the response to issues involving football players. At one game a drunk student streaked the field at halftime and he was arrested, prosecuted and expelled. A few weeks later, two starting football players with a reputation for violence among the student body, crashed a party, started a fight and then were tased by police for resisting arrest. A VP escorted these students to a top law firm in town on a Sunday to get them "pro bono" legal assistance.

[MTwesty]

06:38 AM on 05/04/2012

The current president inherited a mess and he has worked to clean it up, although there is always room for improvement. After these allegations came to light, he hired an investigator to examine the university's response to sexual assault reports. From the campus police to the student health center to the administration, it was terrible. A new student athelete code of conduct is in place, all faculty and staff are going through mandatory training on how to help victims and what the legal responsibilities are. The coach and AD were fired because they allowed a starting payer back on the team after being accused of rape in violation of this new policy.

The DOJ investigation is not a waste of time and money. There is such a cloud over the city and university that it requires an outside investigation. If, as you suspect, nothing comes of it, it will allow the community to trust the police, prosecutor and university. If, as I suspect, there will be issues identified, this will allow them to be addressed and for the system to work as it should.

We can not allow the women in our community and on our campus to be assaulted! There has to be no tolerance for this, whoever the perpetrator or the victim.

If you want to see just how out of touch the football team is relating to this, check out their letter to the community at http://www.gogriz.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/033012aaa.html.

[MTwesty]

06:21 AM on 05/04/2012

I would like to believe that you are right and that there is nothing going on, but I fear that is not the case. I don't believe that there is some grand conspiracy - that is not why the DOJ is here looking at this. Rather it is a combination of negligence and willful ignorance that resulted in this situation.

The first component is the police department. It has been well reported locally that the MPD does not take sexual assault claims as seriously as they should. Many of the recent victims have been told that these are difficult cases to prosecute and tried to dissuade them from pursuing the matter. In several cases victims were told that the rapists had been interviewed by the police and they were sorry. As if that is sufficient. With the recent attention, the police department is trying to change its ways - or at least that's what their PR says, but the police chief admitted earlier this year that they weren't doing all they could/should have.

The county prosecutors office also has some issues to be cleaned up. They have routinely not gone forward with sexual assault cases related to the university. It is important that the DOJ investigates their activities to shed light on things and to hold them accountable if they aren't doing their job.

[Arielski]

03:50 PM on 05/03/2012

The Miissoula County Attorney, Fred Van Valkenberg, a.k.a. "Fat Freddy", has sworn his undying devotion to prosecuting misdemeanor possession of marijuana cases. Those victimless crime are a prosecutorial slam-dunk. Obviously actual crimes against persons, such as rape and other assaults, are beyond his skills.

[zombywulf]

11:10 AM on 05/06/2012

he's an alum isn't he

[Vondrazy Priest]

12:31 PM on 05/03/2012

sadly, women are still looked upon as nothing and it seems it'll be that way forever

[rnoble]

11:39 AM on 05/03/2012

Colleges and universities pretty much run the police, city council and prosecutors office in small towns. Many of the officials are alumni or otherwise connected with the college. It is not uncommon at all for an educational institution to put it's reputation above that of the safety of young women. Especially when an athelete is involved. The rights and status of women in America are under assult and they can no longer rely upon the integrity of educational institutions and municipal authorities to protect them. Many advancements were made on behalf of women's rightd in the 60's and 70's, but it's a new day. Let us be forever mindful that freedom is never free. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.

[KMBS]

03:33 PM on 05/03/2012

Thank you for mentioning the current assault on women in this country. I am from the 60's and 70's. Women of this era put alot of energy into fighting for equality. I am a rape victim. It happened in 1969. We didn't go to the police back then. They just laughed in your face...Things were getting better for women. But the younger generation of women have taken everything for granted. Since 2009, the media has done countless stories about the 100,000 or so rape test kits across this country sitting on shelves untested. They will never be reviewed or compared to a criminal data base to figure out who raped these women. Where was the Department of Justice when these stories were in the media. It is an expensive Department run out of Washington DC that should be cut to nothing. They have done nothing. They spend time following steroid use. Who cares if an athlete takes steroids. He's old enough to make those decisions. They have spent more time on Roger Clemens then they have spent on Wall Street, Banks, the SEC. No one is still in jail. The money they have spent on sports and steroid use could have been used to solve rape cases. Now women are not reporting rape. It worked powerful men of this country. You have now made Rape legal. Why wouldn't those guys at U of Montana or anyplace else in the USA continue to rape. No one is watching.

[lmayj]

11:35 AM on 05/03/2012

men will never, ever look at sexual assault they way the women being assaulted look at it...men cant help but feel somehow we did something to deserve it or that its just blown out of proportion...it was no harm done to them. its true many times women use this to get men in trouble...but far too many times it is true and it should not be ignored.

[Vondrazy Priest]

12:33 PM on 05/03/2012

You're exactly right. Too bad we don't live in a society where females both young and old can get a fair shake when it comes to sex crimes committed against them.

[eclipse535]

04:00 PM on 05/03/2012

As a man I see things differently.Violence against women is considered to be more horrible than violence against men.

[squirrely girl]

04:55 PM on 05/06/2012

Violence is horrible regardless. But I think society distinguishes that violence which occurs when one individual is bigger/stronger than the other from other types of violence. Is this not something we stress even to children? Don't pick on those who are weaker or smaller than you...

[parisnoire]

11:21 AM on 05/03/2012

Hey Missoula, maybe your rape figures are lower than national average because the women in your town see clear evidence that you don't give a rat's *** about protecting them, or even taking their complaints seriously.

I believe that one is innocent until proven guilty, but how about you actually try to find out if the complaints of these women have merit? That would be a good beginning. Oh, and U of Montana: a zero tolerance policy -- one which INCLUDES athletes found guilty of sexual assault -- might be a good beginning for you too. Jeez.

[timsurfs]

06:20 PM on 05/03/2012

Only one athlete has been charged with anything and he has been thrown off the team (it's a bad accusation involving date-rape drug and probably true - good riddance). Certainly no athlete has been found guilty of sexual assault and is still on the team.

Everything else is a mangled ball of accusations and there's no evidence for any of it. I could be wrong, in which case the feds getting involved is exactly what's needed.

I live in Missoula. Just don't be surprised if the concusion of this investigation is that nothing much at all happened here.

[parisnoire]

07:02 PM on 05/03/2012

That is correct -- only one -- but more are being investigated. But your point is well taken, (and I should have been more specific).

Sexual assault cases are often a ball of accusations and contradictions. That is the precise reason they need follow up and follow through. I think you're right about the government intervention. Lots of folks there don't seem to be doing their jobs. I hope you're right about "nothing much at all happened here." I think a nasty shock is coming your way.

Anyway, thanks for the civil response! Nice to know there are some nice folks in Missoula! Fanned!

[wilddogg]

11:01 AM on 05/03/2012

it is sad, how hard it seems to be, to protect women and children from predators, and politicians in America!

[Vondrazy Priest]

12:34 PM on 05/03/2012

Ain't that the truth? Yet they'll through a person in jail for a thousand years for selling an ounce of drugs, go figure!!!!!!!!!

[piceaglauca]

10:42 AM on 05/03/2012

So are these college boys related to the prosecution office? Like who has deep pockets to keep those boys safe? Maybe those campus frat boys have a rush target to meet. Tell me now is this the mentality of the town of Missoula? My prediction is there is a bucnh, maybe three to five guys known to the girls and their friends who these guys are and why they never get charged but are to afraid to talk. So look at the parties, the social groupings, and the peer pressure. Cross examine the victims for similar traits. You'll find your answer there. There is a target audience, I don't believe it is random. It isn't a score board, it's probably a punishment board. That's my view.