Virginia Wesleyan Rape Case Trial Begins
The Virginia Wesleyan College rape case started in civil trial as of last week. Attorney Halperin is representing the victim who was allegedly raped by an upperclassman on the school’s campus back in 2012.
ABC 13 News Now reported that the former student of VWC is suing the college for $10 million due to their mishandling of reported rape claims. The former student, “Jane Doe,” believes that the school is partially responsible for the rape.
Details of the Case
During the first trial meeting, Attorney Halperin laid out the details of the case. Doe claims that she was invited to a party by a student, peer advisor, and school employee who helps freshmen get acclimated to college life. While at the party, she took a shot of alcohol, but immediately felt as if she had been drugged. She then alleges that an upperclassman, “Robert Roe,” took her back to his dorm room and raped her repeatedly for five hours. In his claim, Attorney Halperin made the point that the school negligently hired this peer adviser who was knowingly giving alcohol to underage students.
Even though Doe did not report the case until five weeks after the incident occurred, the school did not notify the police. Attorney Halperin is also making the claim that the school has had similar incidents of sexual assault on their campus involving the use of date rape drugs, where they did nothing to prevent any other future instances.
While the defense is claiming that it was simply a drunken one night stand and that they both agreed to the act, Attorney Halperin is arguing otherwise on behalf of Doe who had to seek mental health counseling after the incident. She has dealt with post-traumatic stress disorder and even had to drop out of school because of the anxiety involved with having to see her alleged
rapist around campus often.
In many cases of sexual assault, victims simply do not press charges just so that they do not have to go into court and face their assailant.
Sexual Assault Victims
For those that have been victims of sexual assault, whether on a college campus or anywhere else, call Zukerberg & Halperin, PLLC today for representation from a qualified team of Washington DC injury lawyers.
Offering a free consultation, give our office a call today at (202) 232-6400.