Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Victims in college football rape scandals fight for justice

Episode Date: May 25, 2020

The ugly side of college football is revealed as Nancy Grace and her panel look at three high-profile schools and allegations of rape that occurred involving football players. Why were the allegations ignored and how did the victims fight for justice?Joining Nancy Grace today: Wendy Patrick- California prosecutor, author of “Red Flags” James Shelnutt - 27-years Atlanta Metro Major Case detective, SWAT Officer (RET), Attorney Karen Smith- Forensics expert, host of "Shattered Souls" podcast. Caryn Stark- NYC Psychologist Levi Page - Investigative reporter, CrimeOnline Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Hi guys, Nancy Grace here. At a time when we are all pulling together to fight coronavirus, COVID-19, I have something for you. An all-free e-chapter on coronavirus crimes and how to fight them. Don't be a coronavirus crime victim. From door-to-door sales of fake cures and tests, vaccines. That's not real. To robocalls that are trying to scam you. To fake ads.

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Goodbye, friend. Keep the faith. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. After three years and two trials, 23-year-old former football player Brandon Vandenberg convicted on multiple counts of aggravated rape and sexual battery, now facing a prison sentence of 15 to 25 years. The former athlete and three of his teammates were accused of sexually assaulting a fellow student in a college dorm room after a night of drinking. Surveillance video showing the men carrying the unconscious victim into the building.

The next thing I remember is waking up in an unfamiliar room around 8 a.m. the next morning. While Vandenberg didn't physically assault her, he was convicted of facilitating and encouraging the entire thing. Wow, you're hearing our friend Maria Chavo Campo at ABC. They're calling it a scandal. I call it a felony. You know what's interesting about the college rape scandal? That's certainly putting perfume on a pig. What a euphemism. Did you know, look around, I'm looking around the studio, I look around when I'm in the car, I look around when I'm at church, I look around when I'm at the children's school. Did you know that one out of every four women, look around, have been sex assaulted? Man, I learned the hard way in court.

Very few of these women ever come forward. You'd be very surprised at all the women that have been assaulted that never say a word. Joining me right now on the Ohio and the Utah and so many other rape scandals, an all-star panel to break it down and put it back together again, with me, Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags. You can find her at WendyPatrickPhD.com. James Shelnut, 27 years, major Metro case division SWAT officer, now lawyer. Karen Smith joining me, California forensics expert, lecturer, University of Florida, and host of Shattered Souls podcast. Also with me, Karen Stark,

New York psychologist, joining us out of Manhattan today. You can find her at KarenStark.com. That's Karen with a C. But right now, let's go out to CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter Levi Page. P.S. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. You know, Levi Page, did you hear that stat about one out of every four women, when you look around, have been sex assaulted? You have a mother, right, Levi?

Yes, I do. Do you have a sister or a cousin or what? What do you have? I have a brother, but I do have cousins that are females, yes. You know, my daughter and my son, they're twins, are 12 years old right now. They're going to be going off to college in just a few years. This is called the college rape scandal. Tell me what happened. Let's just start with Ohio State. Tell me about that, Levi. Put it in a nutshell for me. Okay, so Nancy, two football players are charged with rape. Amir Reap and Jason Wynn. Why is it always football players? Don't mean to interrupt, but what about that, Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags? Why is it

always the football players in college? And then when you get to professional sports, it's a free-for-all. It could be football. It could be basketball. You know, you don't really hear too much about baseball or hockey or rugby or soccer. What is it with football, Wendy? Theories advanced over the years about this. I mean, one of the theories is this is a sport that attracts the ability

to, let's say, have lots of dates, have lots of women come home with you. There's also a theory that says there's aggressiveness that is at a premium.

Did you say dates? Remember, it's date rape that happens a lot is what you have. Okay, I agree, but I'm kind of losing you on the date part of the rape.

Well, that's the actual part of it. Acquaintance sexual assault is far more common than somebody leaping out of the bushes. And that is problematic. Now, you have this issue of consent being the defense, and that's why these cases are so egregious. Because when you have a sport that's high profile, that's in the spotlight, remember football games are a big deal in high school. You know, athletes are role models whether they want to be or not and when this kind of behavior sexual assault is happening where it begins with some element of let's say their acquaintances if maybe they're not on a date although sadly nancy you and i both know having tried these cases for years

sometimes the woman doesn't believe she's going to be raped and that is one of the reasons that these crimes are severely underreported is it goes bad very quickly and it turns into a terrible crime and another thing which i need a shrink on this one i gotta eat a second karen uh but a lot of the women they're really just girls but women in college in that scenario they feel as if they would be the ones blackballed, as if it would be their fault if they say anything. Long story short, take a listen to our friends over at CBS News. This is Adriana Diaz. The Ohio State University football players Amir Reap and Jocelyn Wint were booked into this Columbus jail late last night after turning themselves in. The criminal complaint alleges that on February 4th,

a 19-year-old woman was having consensual sex with Reap when she stopped, stating she did not want to continue. Detectives say Wint then entered the room, and Reap, after asking if Wint could join, pushed her down by the neck and the two men allegedly raped her. Afterward, the report says Reap told the victim to say the incident was consensual on video as he was laughing and she was crying. Denise Alex-Bozunas is with the Columbus Police Department. She was unsure if she should go ahead and file charges. Reap is a cornerback and Wint a safety.

Both are 21 and played in more than 30 games for the Buckeyes with one more year of eligibility. Attorney Sam Schimansky represents Wint. Charges are outrageously false. He's wrongly accused. He shouldn't be in jail. Well, I find that really hard to believe. Let me go to you, Shelnut. You're the lawyer. You're not a prosecutor, so I assume you take the criminal defense case every once in a while. So how does that work after consensual sex during which your sex partner says, hey, can my buddy join in? I've got a funny

feeling that's not what she signed up for. How often do you see that, Shelnut, where the man then says, hey, by the way, hee hee hee, will you go on video saying this was consensual? You know, you don't see it very often, Nancy. will you, will you go on video saying this was, you know, you, uh, you don't see it very often, Nancy. Um, you know, the bottom line ever, how about ever, have you ever seen it? Let's

get specific. Have you ever seen that happen? We're after a sex act. I have never seen that happen again. Perfume on the pig. This is a rape. Have you ever seen the mango? Oh yeah. By the way, can I get you on video saying that whole thing was consensual? We just did. No, I've never seen it happen. And if you're trying to avoid this type of charge, that's a terrible idea. You know, if you look at the video and look at the reports of what was on this video, you know, this young lady who's been victimized is crying during this video. This isn't some happy, joyous event where they're cutting up, laughing, having a good time. She's in tears and it looks like a coerced video crime stories with nancy grace the arrest of amir ree and Jason Wendt have placed a dark cloud over Ohio State's football program.

It's we as a team, and it just goes to show you that one or two guys can bring a whole team down, and you're seeing it now. Reap is a young man known to many Cincinnatians for his skills on the gridiron while at Colerain High School. When he was a senior, the four-star cornerback was one of the best in-state prospects who chose to play at Ohio State. Wint is a current teammate of Reap's. The two live together in this apartment complex off campus. Columbus police say this is where

the men raped a 19-year-old who was also an OSU student. I think there's probably a lot of bad stuff that happens that we don't hear about and this just comes to everyone's attention because they're such big names. According to court documents obtained by WLWT, the 19-year-old and Reap were hanging out together on February 4th and began to have consensual sex. Police say she then wanted to stop. Wint entered the room and documents state both men forced the woman into sex acts. Reap is then accused of telling the woman she needed to give her name and say the sex was consensual on a video recording. Have you ever heard anything like it, a video recording? That's WLWT News 5 reporter Karen Johnson.

You know, I was just thinking, Karen Stark joining me, a psychologist joining me out of Manhattan at karenstark.com. Karen, did I ever tell you in all those hours we sat in the dark together on the set at Court TV? Good times. Did I ever tell you that in high school I dated the high school football captain?

Did I tell you that? Yeah, you were a cheerleader. I did? I remember. I can't believe I ever brought that up. What did that have to do with anything? We talked about everything, Nancy, but I'm not saying a word. Sadly, we were mic'd up and the whole control room heard it.

But can I tell you, that did not help me at all in my education or my legal career. As a matter of fact, the whole thing caused me a lot of grief. So, ladies, if you're listening, dating an athlete is fine, but it's not necessarily a status symbol. You know, I think somehow, Karen Stark, that, well, can you blame the young women in college? Because so much focus. Did you hear that sound that played by WLWT? They were talking about at the beginning the dark cloud, the rape scandal put over the football team.

It's all about the football team. So can you blame young girls, young women who go to college and all the emphasis is about the football game, the football team, the game that weekend, the hoopla surrounding that? Of course they think it's a big deal. So, you know, I can preach all I want to about it not being a status symbol, but that's not necessarily true, Karen Stark. We've got to think like they're thinking. It's not necessarily true, Nancy, and it's very appealing. But I also want

to add that you hear about stories like this from fraternities. You hear about stories like this. They just don't get the same attention as the football players get because they are the most popular and they're supposed to be quote well there was brock does anybody remember brock brock turner um he was the stanford student that raped a young lady out beside the trash bins then claimed that was consensual i mean you know, Karen Smith, let's just think this thing through. I mean, I know people do a lot of crazy things when they're drunk, but I hardly think getting naked by the trash bin beside the fraternity house and having sex on top of the dirt and the pine straw was what she really wanted. I find that really hard to believe. Just that,

that first sentence, that first sentence, that first blush, Karen Smith. I mean, forensically speaking, you know, when you analyze a case, you have to look at the forensics you can get. What do you do with a case like that? I'm talking about Brock Turner, who got the, ouch, slap on the wrist by the,

I think, wasn't he a previous Stanford student or coached one of their debate teams? There was some connection between the judge and Stanford. Remember that? Yes, I do, Nancy. And you know what? Here's the thing about this whole rape culture thing. No, she didn't want that.

And in this case at Ohio State, that victim said that she was involved in consensual sex, but she wanted to stop. End of file. That's where it ends. The woman says she wants to stop. You stop. You don't go forward. And that's the thing. You're dealing with university football players. Two things here, publicity and financial. Nancy, a lot of money comes into universities from the

football team. And I'm not blaming them. I'm not broad brushing. But what I'm saying is when a woman comes forward against a football player, that means bad publicity and that means financial devastation if it gets out in the news and the universities then have to go forward and defend all of this stuff. Now, wait a minute. What's not asking you about forensics evidence? We certainly got off the road. Let me just steer the bus back into the middle of the road, Karen. Listen to this. Jocelyn Wendt and Amir Reap both arraigned on rape and kidnapping charges this morning, entering not guilty pleas. Reap's bond set at $100,000, Wendt's at $75,000. CPD charging the pair for an incident a woman says happened at an off-campus apartment last week. Investigators say it started as consensual sex between the alleged victim and Amir Reap, but they say it became rape when she told him to stop and Wendt INVESTIGATORS SAY IT STARTED AS CONSENSUAL SEX BETWEEN THE ALLEGED VICTIM AND AMIR REAP, BUT THEY SAY IT BECAME RAPE WHEN SHE TOLD HIM TO STOP AND WENT JOINED.

THIS IS VIDEO WE'RE SEEING FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY OF THE TWO BEING BOOKED AT THE FRANKLIN COUNTY JAIL. ATTORNEYS FOR BOTH DENY THE ALLEGATIONS. I'M NOT GOING TO GET INTO THE POLITICS OF IT, BUT IT'S A TOUGH PLACE TO BE A STUDENT ATHLETE AND IF YOU'RE FALSELY ACCUSED, THE COLLABORATION CONSEQUENCES ARE JUST TREMENDOUS. politics of it, but it's a tough place to be in a student athlete. And if you're falsely accused, the collateral consequences are just tremendous. This case is so full of reasonable doubt, it's beyond belief. But the reality is my kid's innocent, period. Wentz attorney pointing out police waited seven days to arrest him.

Were my client some stone cold rapist kidnapper, he wouldn't have been on the street for seven minutes, not to mention days. Okay, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, what what are they telling me there's a difference between a stone cold rapist and date rape because that's what i think i heard you were hearing our friends at wsyx abc6 is there a big difference under the between date rape and stone cold rapists like off the street you know in legal theory no but when you get in front of a jury that's a whole nother can of worms to convince a jury that a woman went willingly on a date met possibly started consensual foreplay and then said no does it happen it happens every day but practically speaking sometimes you're going to hit a road bump with a jury you've got to get a jury that understands the thinking behind the victim not coming forward that's a big issue we see it all

the time you know you see it in the Weinstein case. Why did all of these actresses never make a formal complaint? Look what happened when they did. When one victim actually caught Weinstein on audio tape and took it to Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan DA, they did nothing. Nothing. What message does that send? Aside from the Ohio rape scandal, there's so many others, but let me just circle back to that one moment to Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Levi, tell me exactly what the victim's allegations are in the Ohio rape case. So, Nancy, she claims that she was at this apartment complex off campus and that Amir Reap, 21 years old, they were having consensual sex. She then says that she changed her mind and she no longer wanted to engage in

sexual activity with him. Then things took a dark turn, Nancy. She says that Jason Wendt, also a football player, the roommate came into the room and he was like hey do you mind if he joins and she rebuffed the idea and then both of them whoa whoa whoa what what levi maybe it's an everyday thing for you to discuss hey she's having consensual sex then the roommate comes in and says hey can i jump in i just have to drink that in for just one moment. I mean, right there, Wendy Patrick, I got a problem. Right there. Yeah, that's right.

She didn't sign up for a threesome. You know, going on a date with a man. You just stole that from me. I said that at the beginning. She didn't sign up for that, and you stole it. I'm going to give you a moment to come up with your own tag phrase. But I know that the allegations are that the roommate came in. Then Levi Page, he, Reap, asked her to do a video, basically, statement giving her name and that the act was consensual.

She cried the whole way through. The cops got their mitts on that what yeah you know to this story i'll say i think i think this whole video this video consent allegation is just nonsense you can argue it's a sign of the times everything's got to be in writing or on video but this young lady that the trauma that she was experiencing is evidence when you look at a video like this it is not a good idea. It is something that will be used as an aggravant, as it should be, and there is a very uphill battle arguing consent in circumstances like this. Sadly, we do see cases like this. I don't want to say

it's only in the sporting arena, but given the allegations we're discussing, we've seen it, let's say, more than once. I know I've seen it many times over the course of my career. Hold on just a moment. Levi Page, let me break in just for a moment. What were you saying? Is there more in the Ohio case? Yes. In addition to forcing her to record a video statement saying that this was consensual, he also made her take a shower before driving her home, which would wash away some evidence of a sexual assault, which shows you that they maybe knew what they were doing.

Yeah, that's a good point. But very quickly, Karen Smith, yes, no, hold on, wait for it. When you force a rape victim to take a shower, I doubt pretty seriously you're going to be able to wash DNA out of someone's body cavities. I mean, that's not going to work. No, it won't. There's still going to be some evidence left behind. And when, you know, she was reported, she apparently reported this within hours. A rape kit probably was done, at least I hope it was done. And if that's the case, then that DNA will still be within her. You know, if she was held down by the neck, does she have bruising? That would be the forensic evidence I would be looking for. Any bruising, any scratches, any marks on her body as well.

It's just very sad all around Nancy, all of it. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Prosecutor Jan Norman queued up three videos, which were narrated by Detective Chad Gish, who discovered them on an iPhone back in 2013. Yes, this is the victim laying on the floor of the dorm room. We see Corey Beatty's hand there. A few seconds of video that shattered lives. It's Mr. Beatty appearing to have sex with the victim.

The video was shot inside Gillette Hall, Gish said, at 2.40 in the morning. What you can't see is the unconscious female student laying on a tile floor. I feel almost sick. This woman, this young woman is depicted on video being carried unconscious down a hall at Vanderbilt University. From what we are learning, from what we know, she was totally unconscious when she was raped. Yet this is still being called a scandal as opposed to what it is, a rape on a young woman. With me, an all-star panel. Welcome back. I'm Nancy Grace.

This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Straight to Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Levi, what happened in the Vanderbilt case? So, Nancy, in 2013, Brandon Vandenberg, Corey Beatty, Brandon Bakes, and Jaborian McKenzie also bought players at Vanderbilt. Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, wait. Who? One more time.

How many people? Brandon Vandenberg, Corey Beatty. Brandon Banks and J. Borean McKenzie. That's one, two, three, four, five. They were charged with rape. They're football players at Vanderbilt University. And, Nancy, this is known as the Harvard of the South. Very, very hard to get

into this college and they're accused of raping a 21 year old female in the dorms there on campus and cameras set up in the dorms in the hallway show them carrying this 21 year old woman unconscious wait cameras set up were surveillance cameras, or were they cameras set up by the perps? Cameras set up by the college surveillance cameras in the hallway. But after they carried her into Vandenberg's dorm room, they whipped out their cell phones, and they started taking photographs and videos of her, Nancy. At one point, when they were carrying her in, her skirt rode up,

and they started taking pictures of her in her underwear. And Vandenberg also sent photographs of the victim to an ex-player that played for Vanderbilt. He also, there were photographs recovered from their phones, Nancy, of the woman's private area. There was a video of Corey Beatty, and he's taking off his pants. He's wearing American flag underwear. They're teasing him about it, and they're looking at porn on the computer. There's also, this is the most disturbing part. There's video of them penetrating her with a water bottle while she's passed out.

And one of them urinates on the victim, Corey Beatty, and in the video he says that is for 400 years of slavery and then he calls her the B word. You know, that was my fault. I asked you to tell me what happened. You told me. How old was the victim, Levi? Do we know?

Twenty-one years old. You know what, Karen Stark? Sometimes I just don't know what to say. I mean, we're trained in court to have an answer to everything. Sometimes I don't even have an answer. The cruelty. Well, the disdain nancy the total disdain the disregard for the fact that this is a human being a person with rights and her privacy it's so outrageous and really

really shows the disgust that they're having that that they could care less they don't see her as a person of course you're sitting there and you don't know what to say it's just beyond belief i mean the thought the thought of those videos and those pictures being disseminated to god knows who and and totally passed out levi page was she roofied was she drunk what what how why was she passed out. Levi, Paige, was she roofied? Was she drunk? Why was she passed out? So Nancy, that night before she was taken to the dorm room, she was out on a date with Brandon Vandenberg. They were at a bar in downtown Nashville, the Tin Roof, very popular place for the younger crowd. And she drank very heavily. They tried to get into her hotel, but not her hotel, but her apartment, but she couldn't find her keys.

So that's when they drove to the dorm room where this sexual assault took place. Well, you know what's going to happen now, Wendy Patrick, California prosecutor, author of Red Flags. You can find her at WendyPatrickPhD. I'm glad you got that PhD in there. Now, let me ask you, Wendy, is your PhD your juror's doctorate, or do you have another Ph.D.? My Ph.D. is in theology, Nancy. I got a Master in Divinity degree after I was a prosecutor for about 15 years, and then went on and got that Ph.D. Man, you probably needed it after you saw all that.

Well, you bet I did. And you know, it really comes into play when analyzing the behavior of sexual assault perpetrators and victims. Why do we have to analyze their behavior? Because the jury has been there. They can't appreciate, for example, why a woman wouldn't run to the police right away, why she might continue to have contact with her rapist. Those are the kinds of psychology, that's why we have expert witnesses, to explain to a jury how traumatizing it is, how humiliating it can be, how embarrassing and shaming, and that's one of the reasons why. I'm telling you, Wendy, that's why a lot of victims

don't come forward. Exactly right. Because they're so embarrassed. Because now you've got to tell a whole courtroom what happened, then you've got to see pictures of your genitals on, you know, with your skirt up around your head in front of whoever's in the courtroom. You can't close a courtroom. Now, there were many occasions where I would just hand pictures directly to the jury once they were, of course, admitted into evidence and not put them up on a slideshow, usually because the victims were present. And I did not want them to have to see that or be embarrassed or the victim's relatives if the victim was dead. I didn't want them to see autopsy photos or crime scene photos. But sometimes they did go up. So you got the rape victim sitting there watching all that. Take a listen to our friends. This is WTV News Channel 5,

Chris Conte. Then came the text messages found on Corey Beatty's phone days after the alleged rape occurred. They are trying to say we raped this bitch Saturday night. I'm about to get kicked off the team, bro, period. I'm fucking my life up, period. All of these, though, were secondhand accounts. What you just heard next came directly from a man who was there. Who appeared to be on top of this? Didn't think I had sex. THESE THOUGH WERE SECOND HAND ACCOUNTS. WHAT JURORS HEARD NEXT CAME DIRECTLY FROM A MAN WHO WAS THERE.

Who appeared to be on top of this? I didn't think I had sex. Corey Batey. JABORI AND TIT MACKENZIE IS ALSO ACCUSED OF RAPE. AT ONE TIME HE WAS BATEY'S BEST FRIEND. TODAY HE WAS TESTIFYING AGAINST HIM. Well, he continued to test the young lady. THERE WERE MOMENTS... Young man, do you need a break? I'm fine. I'm fine. to touch the young lady. There were moments when the 21-year-old appeared shaken by it all.

Well, I'm ashamed of what I watched take place that day. I'm not happy about it at all. It's just, I hate that it happened that way. Uh-uh. No, I'm sorry. You can feel sorry for him if you want to, but as the judge often instructs a jury, a defendant, a perpetrator may exhibit remorse immediately after the deed. But that does not negate the intent at the time of the incident. Let's think about that for a moment.

The time of the incident where this young woman, just 21, 22, lying in the floor with her skirt up over her head, getting raped. Not only by these men, but with water bottles. Getting dragged around up and down a hall naked in the dorm, the structures hall. No. He's upset now. He wasn't upset then when he and his buddies were sitting around pictures and videos of this poor woman. Awful. If you can't connect with her, what if this happened to your daughter or your mother or your sister?

Let's take a listen to the victim in this case. Gut-wrenching testimony from the victim in that brutal rape case at Vanderbilt University as the defendant, Corey Beatty, sat expressionless in the courtroom. I've seen with my own eyes what I was when Mr. Beatty was done with me. A piece of trash. Today was the sentencing for Beatty. He's one of the four former college football players accused of raping a 21-year-old fellow student and capturing it all on camera. Today, Beatty addressed the now 24-year-old victim. In the end, the judge handed down an expected minimum sentence of 15 years in prison. His former teammate, Brandon Vanderburg, will be sentenced in September. His other two mates, who pleaded not guilty, are now awaiting word on plea deals. I'm so disgusted in these sentences. Levi Page, just give it to me. Give it to me like a bullet,

all right? What were the sentences? So Brandon Vanderberg got 17 years in prison. Corey Beatty and Brandon Bakes. He'll do about seven, eight. Go ahead. Corey Beatty and Brandon Bakes. He'll do about 7, 8. Go ahead. Corey Beatty and Brandon Bakes both got 15 years and J. Borean McKenzie reached a plea deal where he agreed to testify against his former teammates. He got no

prison time, but he has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He got probation. He got probation. He got probation. Ten years probation. Because he snitched. Yeah. Probation.

So one gets 17, he'll probably do maybe seven or eight. Two get 15, they'll probably do six or seven. And one gets straight probation. You know what's the saddest part? Is that there are actually people whining about how this will affect their career. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Immediately after the attack happened, he turned to me and said, you're not the kind of girl that would report a rape, right, because that would ruin my career.

Three days later, she did just that. Went to Logan Police and reported that Tori Green had raped her. How long did it take for them to take these allegations seriously? They called him in in and I heard nothing for about a year and a half. Don't report this. It would ruin my career. Salt Lake City, Fox 13 reporter Erin Cox. Wow. Okay, another rape scandal at another university. This time we're talking about Utah State. To Levi Page, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. Tell me what happened in the Utah incidents.

Is it true there are six victims? Yes, Nancy, six victims that claim they were raped from 2013 to 2015 by a former Utah State football player, 25-year-old Torrey Green. All the women claimed that they were raped on dates with him in their first ever encounter with him all at his apartment. And it went from 2013 to 2015, that's 13, 14, 15, three years. What took so long for it to come to authorities? So authorities didn't follow up on these claims.

And the university was also, there's been a woman that claimed she had met him for ice cream it was their first date they went to his apartment to watch a movie and he forced himself on her and raped her she says that she went to the university they never took action they never followed up with her and she was so upset about this that she gave up her scholarship and transferred schools. Are you telling me that one or six of these young ladies went to the university and they did nothing? What do we know about the university itself as being complicit in the delay in prosecution? Well, I know that the woman that I just mentioned filed a civil lawsuit against the university. I think other females had gone to the university as well as the police department.

Do you think or do you know? I think that. I don't know. I don't know how many actually went to the university. I do know that several of them went to law enforcement. And law enforcement didn't really take action until the accusations kept coming in that's odd that's really weird james shelnut 22 27 years metro major case swat officer that's not easy now lawyer james shelnut i find that very odd because I would get rape cases to prosecute where in the police file and the grand jury proceedings, there's hardly any evidence at all.

I would have to go out and beat the street. I mean, work it hard in order to get a case to take to a jury. Yet I'm hearing that here in the Utah case, cops sat on rape allegations until they started, quote, building up. What do you think? What do you make of that? What I make of it is absolutely disgusting. You know, you have to sit and think, why would they do this? And, you know, why is always is always the question sometimes that seems to pervade an answer. But the bottom line is that you have to think, what interference was there? What was their reasoning? What was the police motivation to not investigate this case? And you have to

start thinking, you know, is there some improper influence coming from outside the law enforcement agency, through the school administration, through coaches, or through someone else to hinder them or to dampen the fire on this situation so that they lacked motivation or lacked the ability to investigate this case. You know, I'm just thinking about what if any undue influence was placed on the police? If any, I don't know that there was. Levi Page, what more can you tell me about the delay in these cases ever getting prosecuted? Because think about it. We know this guy, one guy, is convicted.

Isn't he convicted of sex assault on six women? Yes, you're correct. I mean, if he had been convicted the first time, maybe there would have been five others. And you remember that stat i started with levi about one in four women have been sex assaulted at some time how many other women are out there six women saw it through all the way how many other women are out there how this guy get away with it for so long well nancy part of the reason why this was prosecuted was the salt lake tribune was actually tipped off,

and they did an article on this. And that's how also it gained momentum, and they started prosecuting him. And during the investigation, Nancy, this is very important to point out, they got a search warrant for Green's cell phone, and they got text messages that he had exchanged with a friend of his where they were discussing the Salt Lake Tribune article about the accusations. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, I've got to write this down. Go ahead, hit me.

So he is texting with a friend. Speak with proper nouns, please. Who is he? Green, the defendant. Green, full name is Torrey Green, as I recall. Torrey Green, Yes. Go ahead. And he is texting with a friend, and at first he denies the allegation. And then he comes out and says, quote, they said I raped them. Yes, I did. It's my fault. I'm the one who did it. And that

was used against him at trial. Well, I guess so. I mean, okay, so six women that we know of. Okay, what more can you tell me about that? He went to court. He got convicted. Was it a plea? Was it a trial? Was the sentence? Is there an appeal going on? What can you tell me? He went to trial, Nancy, and this is going to get you upset about what his defense was so the defense attorney argued that all of these victims came forward because he was going to go into the nfl and they wanted attention that's what their defense was okay i'm upset but it's also laughable so i think the delay in the prosecution was because the university didn't report it and the police didn't go through with it.

But he's saying the only reason they came forward is because he was going to go to the big show? Yes. He was actually signed to the Atlanta Falcons and they dropped him. Okay. That's what I can tell you right now. And also, these women are suing Utah State University. What about that? What's going to happen with that?

The litigation is ongoing, Nancy, but they have sued the university because the university didn't follow up on the complaints. They didn't provide any services to help them throughout this devastating experience at all. And several of them have taken action in the form of civil lawsuits against Utah State. Well, I truly believe that's the only way that the rape culture will ever be brought to a halt within universities and colleges, is to hit them where it counts, and that's in the wallet. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend.