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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Rape Suit Filed Against College of Charleston

A former College of Charleston freshman sued the school and the local chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity following her alleged rape at a fraternity house party in August.

(CN) - A former College of Charleston freshman sued the school and the local chapter of the Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity following her alleged rape at a fraternity house party in August.

According to the complaint filed in the Charleston County Court of Common Pleas on Dec. 16, the plaintiff was 17 the night the "Bid Party," which was held by the fraternity to celebrate the end of its recruitment season.

She claims that during the party two upperclassmen forced her into a bedroom where they plied her with illegal drugs, made her take off her clothes and then raped her.

The plaintiff says as one of the male students forced her to perform sexual acts, another photographed and filmed the assault on his iPhone.

She says she repeatedly tried to get away from the men but was unable to break free. She says the attack only stopped because the men grew tired of her resistance and left her naked and crying on the floor.

According to the complaint, the plaintiff was taken back to her dorm and then to the Medical University of South Carolina where an exam was performed. She was admitted to the hospital due to enduring a “serious personal injury,” court documents say.

A Charleston police report states officers responded to the hospital on the night of the alleged assault and spoke to a doctor who said the victim had been sexually assaulted.

The victim told officers she was sexually assaulted at a home on Ashley Avenue on Aug. 27 between 3:30 p.m. and 4 p.m. by two unknown males.

The men were arrested a week later, with one being charged with engaging a child for sexual performance, and the other with first and third-degree sexual exploitation of a minor.

In the wake of the alleged incident, College of Charleston President Glenn McConnell announced a campus-wide ban on alcohol at all fraternity and sorority events.

The plaintiff seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Calls to her attorney D. Nathan Hughey and the fraternity’s attorney Jim Ewbank were not returned.

Categories / Criminal, Education, Regional

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