UVA 'Jackie' Story: Police Say They Can't Confirm Gang Rape Described in R.S.

[Jesse]

Source: NBC News

Police said Monday that they could not substantiate the claim of a gang rape at a fraternity house made by a University of Virginia student in an explosive Rolling Stone story last fall.

"We have no basis to conclude that anything happened at that fraternity house," Chief Timothy Longo of the Charlottesville police told reporters.

He said that the student, identified in the article as Jackie, refused to give a statement or answer questions when she met with police in December, two weeks after the article was published.

In the article, "A Rape on Campus," Jackie described being attacked by seven men in a dark room at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity party when she was a freshman, in September 2012. She said some of her friends urged her not to report the crime.

Rolling Stone backed away from the story, and ultimately apologized for it, after major elements were disputed by The Washington Post and other news outlets. The magazine said that it had never contacted the man who was alleged to have orchestrated the sexual assault.

Longo said that police found no evidence that any party took place at Phi Kappa Psi on the night in question.

He stressed that the conclusion did not mean that "something terrible didn't happen to Jackie," only that police could not corroborate it. He characterized the investigation as suspended, not closed.

"I'm not in a position where I can say, based on all the evidence that we've developed, that something terrible didn't happen to that young lady that night," he said. "All I can tell you is there's no substantive basis to conclude that what is described in that article happened that night."

Palma Pustilnik, a legal aid lawyer who has spoken for Jackie, declined comment.

The police chief also said that he hoped there would be no "chilling effect" discouraging women from coming forward to report sexual assault.

After the article appeared, the university suspended all fraternity activities for two months. The university reinstated Phi Kappa Psi in January and said that police had yet to find corroboration for the account.

"We look forward to working with all fraternities and sororities in enhancing and promoting a safe environment for all," the university president, Teresa A. Sullivan, said at the time.

The Columbia University graduate school of journalism is conducting a review on behalf of the magazine. The managing editor said over the weekend that Rolling Stone would publish the results.


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I'm shocked. SCHOCKED I tell you.

[Truthseeker]

Jesse, what in the article shocked you?

[Cow Poke]

Jesse, what in the article shocked you?

(pssst.. imagine sarcasm tags around Jesse's comment)

[Jesse]

Jesse, what in the article shocked you?

Oops. I am sorry about that, Truthseeker. That was sarcasm on my part.

[Truthseeker]

That reminds me of the 2006 Duke lacrosse case.