Suit: Stanford Had a Sexual Predator on Its Hands, Did Nothing

Jane Doe alleges Mr. X attacked other women before assaulting her
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 7, 2016 7:37 AM CST
Lawsuit: Stanford Did Nothing After 'Mr. X' Raped Woman
A student walks on campus at Stanford University Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016, in Stanford, Calif.   (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Two years after she came to Stanford, "Jane Doe" began dating "Mr. X." What allegedly happened before and after she says she refused to perform oral sex on him in February 2014 is now the subject of a federal lawsuit filed Monday. Doe alleges the 6-foot-6, 200-pound man violently tried to rape her in the wake of her refusal, report the Guardian and SF Gate. She says the incident might never have occurred had the university responded appropriately to other women who alleged they had been attacked by the same man, among them, "Ms. A." NBC News reports that in 2011, Mr. X allegedly raped Ms. A, in an attack that involved strangulation to near unconsciousness. The suit claims a counselor Ms. A sought out questioned whether she invited "potentially risky situations," citing the shoulder-exposing sweater she was wearing.

Another official Ms. A went to allegedly suggested she rent a car and head to the beach. The suit, which accuses the university of permitting a "hostile educational environment" that compromised Doe's equal-access-to-education rights under Title IX, says Stanford ultimately verified Mr. X's "pattern of violent behavior when women refused his demands for sexual acts" and imposed a 10-year campus ban, though he still received his bachelor's and master's degrees and violated a no-contact order that had been imposed. The Mercury News reports the school pushed some blame for the handling of the situation onto the women in a statement issued Monday: "Without the cooperation of victims regrettably the university is very limited in what it can do." (More Stanford University stories.)

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