JLM: 2002 Rape Allegations at Liberty University

[borndem]

And look at what other women that night (and a long-time friend of his) have to say about how he treats women with such respect to this day. :facepalm:

(Being discussed elsewhere but don't want you to not stumble on it!)

Thanks for including the "look at what other women" article. Whew, it's spooky, scary, and it bothers me a lot. It sounds like, if the account is accurate, HG was in trouble. Apparently she is very inebriated and LJ is with her. Doesn't look too good for either of them -- for completely different reasons. Oh, my.

 

[borndem]

This case, IMO, is a clear example of why date/acquaintance rape should not be looked at any differently from rape. To the victim of the rape the crime is no less terrifying, degrading or traumatizing. Could this event turn out to be the beginning of a string of rapes and/or murders? The evidence should reveal that in time, but it very well could have been.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes!! What Quill said.

I totally agree. It happened to me -- how many other women on this board alone could say the same thing?

I was a sophomore in college. I was totally sober, but it was sudden. I was already in bed upstairs in my good friend's -- female -- guest bedroom in her apt, reading. She was downstairs. A couple of fratty baggers came over and one came upstairs to see me. I was not asleep. We had never dated, but we knew each other. We started talking, all was fine. And then it happened -- just bam, he was on me. I said stop, and tried to get him the he!! off me, but it was impossible. I just kind of "gave up" and let things complete, so that it would be OVER. Grrrrr. I was powerless. Thank goodness that it was quick. I never spoke to him again. And I never told anyone until this very day. Dammit.
----------------------------------------------
And yes, this needs to be investigated by the C'ville LE or another LE body -- maybe they are already looking -- it would be much easier to prosecute him by showing a pattern of behavior.

 

[Emaa]

I don't think he was expelled (or asked to leave, whatever) because of a rape allegation that wasn't prosecuted. I think it happened because he admitted to "non-marital sexual relations". I wonder if the woman was allowed to remain a student?

https://www.liberty.edu/media/1190/documents/Honor-Code.pdf

Non-marital sexual relations or the encouragement or advocacy of any form of sexual behavior that would undermine the Christian identity or faith mission of the University constitute morally inappropriate sexual misconduct and constitute violations of this Personal Code of Honor.

 

[NotALawyer]

I don't think he was expelled (or asked to leave, whatever) because of a rape allegation that wasn't prosecuted. I think it happened because he admitted to "non-marital sexual relations". I wonder if the woman was allowed to remain a student?

https://www.liberty.edu/media/1190/documents/Honor-Code.pdf

Non-marital sexual relations or the encouragement or advocacy of any form of sexual behavior that would undermine the Christian identity or faith mission of the University constitute morally inappropriate sexual misconduct and constitute violations of this Personal Code of Honor.

It's not clear to me that the alleged victim was another Liberty student. It was an off campus party. I haven't seen a link that victim was a student, although I immediately assumed she was until reading more about it and never seeing it explicitly stated.

 

[blefuscu]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes!! What Quill said.

I totally agree. It happened to me -- how many other women on this board alone could say the same thing?

I was a sophomore in college. I was totally sober, but it was sudden. I was already in bed upstairs in my good friend's -- female -- guest bedroom in her apt, reading. She was downstairs. A couple of fratty baggers came over and one came upstairs to see me. I was not asleep. We had never dated, but we knew each other. We started talking, all was fine. And then it happened -- just bam, he was on me. I said stop, and tried to get him the he!! off me, but it was impossible. I just kind of "gave up" and let things complete, so that it would be OVER. Grrrrr. I was powerless. Thank goodness that it was quick. I never spoke to him again. And I never told anyone until this very day. Dammit.
----------------------------------------------
And yes, this needs to be investigated by the C'ville LE or another LE body -- maybe they are already looking -- it would be much easier to prosecute him by showing a pattern of behavior.

Sorry to hear about that. Thank you for sharing what must have been a terrible experience.

 

[Deba]

It's not clear to me that the alleged victim was another Liberty student. It was an off campus party. I haven't seen a link that victim was a student, although I immediately assumed she was until reading more about it and never seeing it explicitly stated.

According to this article the alleged rape happened on campus behind the Vines Center. It doesn't say whether the alleged victim was an LU student. Included is the statement from LU and the case incident # from LPD.

http://www.wset.com/story/26627533/...jesse-matthew-was-student-and-football-player

 

[Emaa]

It's not clear to me that the alleged victim was another Liberty student. It was an off campus party. I haven't seen a link that victim was a student, although I immediately assumed she was until reading more about it and never seeing it explicitly stated.

In the previously linked DM article (I know, I know, take it with a huge grain of salt) and referenced in this one, they have named at least two people who said she was a student. However, the incident occurred at the Vines Center on campus. http://www.wjla.com/articles/2014/0...ersity-in-2002-after-alleged-rape-107507.html

 

[TravelingBug]

His behavior towards women really disturbs me.

After being accused of rape, why didn't he change his aggressive behavior towards women? If I was wrongfully accused of rape, I would be more careful about touching women and approaching women who are obviously intoxicated and can't consent to sex.

jmo

And then you add in the comments from other women just the night everything happened with Hannah...

You have him being told no, repeatedly, and people even going so far as to leave one establishment and going to another.

Then when he follows them there and keeps being inappropriate, despite additional admonitions to leave them or alone or "no" from all directions, he STILL doesn't stop, and so they leave for a THIRD place.

Patterns of "no" being ignored, personal space not being respected, and just someone who seems to either have zero idea of what's appropriate or not or else just doesn't care, and it's pretty apparent we could get people crawling out of the woodwork with additional encounters, issues, incidents, etc. Now that he's locked up, I imagine we'll be hearing more.

 

[TravelingBug]

His behavior towards women really disturbs me.

After being accused of rape, why didn't he change his aggressive behavior towards women? If I was wrongfully accused of rape, I would be more careful about touching women and approaching women who are obviously intoxicated and can't consent to sex.

jmo

As you pointed out, he didn't learn anything from the rape incident all those years ago. What happened the night Hannah went missing shows that so clearly.

His unwillingness to accept "no," even when it's from multiple people, in a crowded public place where all sorts of people could be hearing what was going on and him still not respecting the "no," and it wasn't even anything nearly as significant as the rape, sure show an issue.

Take all that behind closed doors, when there are no witnesses who can corroborate an account of a female, and it's not hard to think he's equally inappropriate and unwilling to stop when he's told "no" - especially since he may think he's rather invincible since he's had multiple previous charges for things dropped.

 

[travelbug]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Yes!! What Quill said.

I totally agree. It happened to me -- how many other women on this board alone could say the same thing?

I was a sophomore in college. I was totally sober, but it was sudden. I was already in bed upstairs in my good friend's -- female -- guest bedroom in her apt, reading. She was downstairs. A couple of fratty baggers came over and one came upstairs to see me. I was not asleep. We had never dated, but we knew each other. We started talking, all was fine. And then it happened -- just bam, he was on me. I said stop, and tried to get him the he!! off me, but it was impossible. I just kind of "gave up" and let things complete, so that it would be OVER. Grrrrr. I was powerless. Thank goodness that it was quick. I never spoke to him again. And I never told anyone until this very day. Dammit.
----------------------------------------------
And yes, this needs to be investigated by the C'ville LE or another LE body -- maybe they are already looking -- it would be much easier to prosecute him by showing a pattern of behavior.

Thank you for sharing your traumatic assault. I had a similar experience shortly after college. Sadly, even with the level of awareness these days, many more females are too ashamed and/or embarrassed to report the attack and the guilty party avoids all punishment. My gut instincts tell me that JM has used force to get his way many times before HG. jmoo

 

[Hoosgirl]

Another quote deep down in this article - victim stopped returning investigator calls:

http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/coach-missing-uva-woman-witty-with-dry-humor#tscptmt

 

[RSC]

Being 20 isn't an excuse for rape.

That was an excellent and worthwhile
post, Traveling Bug.
While I have almost no experience or knowledge of religious colleges, I thought that there could have been perhaps an exaggeration of what happen with respect to the rape. We are not getting very much information about it. We don't know if a rape actually took place (I mean penetration).

I don't think the college tried to sweep this under the rug at all. I think a religious college like this would do precisely what they did and expel anyone that they even suspected of doing anything immoral under their beliefs.

I become more and more alone in my belief in innocent until proven guilty. This news about Jesse coming at this time is really bad for him. Me, I still am keeping this college ordeal when he was only 20 years old separate from the HG disappearance. I am nothing like the person I was when I was 20.

 

[Emaa]

Being 20 isn't an excuse for rape.

I think it shows his "boundary issues" are a long-standing problem with him. And perhaps they were reinforced by those around him, who mistook his behavior as being outgoing, jovial, friendly, etc.

 

[RSC]

I had a friend at a big ten university get raped during a date with a D1 basketball player. He attacked her with a knife, she ended up in the ER.

The school told her she would have a hard time pursuing charges against him due to his status as an athlete, and that they (the school) weren't interested in helping her.

She transferred to a small college, dropped the charges.

He went on to play in the NBA.

It definitely happens

JMO -- I'll bet a buck that Liberty U. did all it could to quiet-down this case with as little publicity as possible. It wouldn't look good at any college or university anywhere. It's a private school and parents of students have certain expectations, especially about the safety of students. Big state-supported universities do not have the same type scope as smaller private ones. Who knoze what was said & done to keep this incident out of the mass media. This is absolutely not meant as a negative comment on Liberty University itself; it's just the way many private colleges/university operate. This incident just happened to occur at Liberty.

 

[otto]

According to this article the alleged rape happened on campus behind the Vines Center. It doesn't say whether the alleged victim was an LU student. Included is the statement from LU and the case incident # from LPD.

http://www.wset.com/story/26627533/...jesse-matthew-was-student-and-football-player

Morgan Harrington: July 24, 1989 - October 17, 2009

"Liberty University can also report that the October 17, 2002 rape report was investigated by the Lynchburg Police Department"

http://www.wset.com/story/26627533/...jesse-matthew-was-student-and-football-player

 

[margarita25]

I had a friend at a big ten university get raped during a date with a D1 basketball player. He attacked her with a knife, she ended up in the ER.

The school told her she would have a hard time pursuing charges against him due to his status as an athlete, and that they (the school) weren't interested in helping her.

She transferred to a small college, dropped the charges.

He went on to play in the NBA.

It definitely happens

Sickening!!!

 

[Jilliekay68]

I would agree; I think that the it has and continues to be a huge problem on college campuses. I believe they are beginning to see this as a problem and willing to take action now however I'm not sure that sexual assaults were treated with the respect they deserved in very recent history which would lead me to agree with this assessment and what happened at a Big 10 School to your friend does not surprise me; saddens me but not at all shocking .

I had a friend at a big ten university get raped during a date with a D1 basketball player. He attacked her with a knife, she ended up in the ER.

The school told her she would have a hard time pursuing charges against him due to his status as an athlete, and that they (the school) weren't interested in helping her.

She transferred to a small college, dropped the charges.

He went on to play in the NBA.

It definitely happens

 

[cville_bob]

As you pointed out, he didn't learn anything from the rape incident all those years ago. What happened the night Hannah went missing shows that so clearly.

His unwillingness to accept "no," even when it's from multiple people, in a crowded public place where all sorts of people could be hearing what was going on and him still not respecting the "no," and it wasn't even anything nearly as significant as the rape, sure show an issue.

Take all that behind closed doors, when there are no witnesses who can corroborate an account of a female, and it's not hard to think he's equally inappropriate and unwilling to stop when he's told "no" - especially since he may think he's rather invincible since he's had multiple previous charges for things dropped.

No I think he did learn something from that: If they can talk to the police after, you can get in trouble.

 

[FindHG]

I think I recall hearing that she went to a hospital. They have to report it by law. The charges were filed and when the police called her, she never returned the call, so they dropped the charges. Saw or heard it recently.

 

[human]

The girl went to the hospital. Why? I know we don't know, but doesn't that seem a little strange if there was nothing?