UVa Dean Accused of Indifference to Rape in Rolling Stone Hoax Now Suing For $7.5 Million

Associate Dean Nicole Eramo, depicted as callous and indifferent to the made-up non-rape of Jackie, had previously written an open letter to Rolling Stone studded with language that legal analysts called "extra spicey," basically laying out a theory of defamation and provisional damages.

Many speculated that this was a prelude to a lawsuit.

Those speculations were as accurate as they are delicious.

Steven Kruiser there knocks the Washington Post's article reporting the suit for merely saying of the rape hoax that it was "debunked" and had "serious flaws.

But in fairness, the author there, T. Rees Shapiro, was the one who did all the reporting to bring this hoax to light.

Her complaint is here.

Here are a bunch of the words.

To personify the University's alleged institutional indifference to rape, Erdely and Rolling Stone cast Dean Eramo, who met with and counseled Jackie, as the chief villain of the story. Erdely and Rolling Stone claimed -both in the article and in a slew of media appearances and interviews designed to increase publicity for the article -that Dean Eramo intentionally tried to coddle Jackie to persuade her not to report her rape; that she was indifferent to Jackie's allegations; that she discouraged Jackie from sharing her story with others; that she abuse[d] Jackie; that she did nothing in response to Jackie's allegations; that she claimed that UV A withholds rape statistics because nobody wants to send their daughter to the rape school ; that she did not report Jackie's alleged assault to the police; that she brushed off' Jackie; and that she actively sought to suppress Jackie's supposed gang rape.

5 These statements, and the portrayal of Dean Eramo, in A Rape on Campus and in Erdely and Rolling Stone's subsequent public statements, are categorically false. Indeed, publicly available information demonstrates that the highly disparaging claims about Dean Eramo are all untrue.

In fact, upon being told of Jackie's allegations of sexual assault -which differed materially from the description Erdely and Rolling Stone published -Dean Eramo immediately offered to assist Jackie in holding her attackers accountable -by going to the police, by pursuing misconduct proceedings within the University, or by both. Dean Eramo ultimately persuaded Jackie to speak with the police, and she arranged and attended two different meetings between Jackie and officers from the University Police Department and the Charlottesville Police Department.

6 Dean Eramo's efforts did not result in an official complaint or report to police -not because Dean Eramo tried to suppress Jackie's allegations or persuade her to remain silent -but because Jackie adamantly refused to cooperate with law enforcement or name her alleged attackers.

As the Charlottesville Police Department has since confirmed, Jackie insisted both to Dean Eramo and to the police that she did not want her claims investigated, and she refused to provide any specific details that would have allowed them to do so. When police again tried to investigate the supposed sexual assault following the nationwide outcry after the publication of A Rape on Campus, Jackie retained a lawyer and refused to speak with the detectives who were trying to substantiate her claims. As the Washington Postlater noted, contrary to Erdely and Rolling Stone's portrayal of Dean Eramo as incompetent and insensitive, Dean Eramo was actually quite active in seeking an investigation and justice for the allegations Jackie presented.

Haven Monahan makes an appearance:

posted by Ace at 01:06 PM

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