Liberty University has settled a lawsuit filed last July on behalf of 12 Jane Does, according to court documents.
The original lawsuit accused the university of creating “a campus environment where sexual assaults and rapes are foreseeably more likely to occur than they would in the absence of Liberty’s policies.”
According to court documents, legal counsel for the 12 Jane Does filed a notice of dismissal with the court on Wednesday.
The original lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, specifically referenced the Liberty Way, the university’s honor code. The women were originally requesting a jury trial in their case.
In the suit, one of the women detailed her encounter with then 18-year-old Jesse Mathew Jr. while attending a summer camp hosted by the university when she was 15 years old in 2000.
In May 2016, Matthew pleaded guilty to the murders of University of Virginia student Hannah Graham in 2014 and Virginia Tech student Morgan Harrington in 2009 and is currently serving a life sentence in prison for his crimes.
As a whole, the women were claiming the following counts against Liberty University:
- Pre-assault deliberate indifference/hostile environment
- Post-assault deliberate indifference
- Hostile environment
- Retaliation
- Pregnant and parenting deliberate indifference/hostile environment
- Negligence (non-Title IX)
- A charge in connection with the naked photographs taken of Jane Doe 12
10 News has reached out to Liberty University and legal representation of the Jane Does for comment and is waiting for a response.
Source: WSLS News 10
Be First to Comment