BREAKING: NKU facing lawsuit that accuses officials of mishandling sexual assault case

Staff|January 22, 2016

This story was updated on Jan. 22 at 7:08 p.m.

According to a Friday report from The Northern Kentucky Tribune, an NKU student, under the name of Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit against the university on Wednesday, Jan. 20, accusing officials of mishandling her sexual assault case in a campus dorm.

The article states that her attorney, Kevin Murphy, filed a 19-page suit naming four university officials- President Geoffery Mearns, Kathleen Roberts, senior advisor to the president for inclusive excellence, Chief of Police Leslie Kachurek and Senior Associate Dean of Students Ann James.

The Northerner received the following statement from the university:

“Today we learned that a student filed a lawsuit against our university. The complaint contains many factual inaccuracies and mischaracterizations. The university will have an opportunity to respond formally to the complaint.

While it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics, we are confident that we have robust policies and procedures in place, which are designed to protect students. We feel strongly that all were followed in this case.

We take our responsibility to protect our students seriously and have a number of resources in place, including our Norse Violence Prevention Center, which not only supports students who are victims of sexual violence but also proactively works to educate our entire campus community; the Green Dot program; counseling services; and 24/7 reporting available through our University Police department.”

The Northerner will continue to follow-up with the story.

Editor’s Note: This story has been edited to protect the identity of the student involved.