College spokesman says rape didn't happen, loses his job

By Ashe Schow, Ashe Schow

Published December 20, 2015

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A spokesman for Hocking College has been fired for telling media outlets that a reported rape did not actually occur.

Investigations from the Athens County prosecutor's office as well as the school's Title IX office both determined that the alleged rape did not occur.

A female student reported to police on Sept. 1 that she had been gang-raped by several male students several days earlier, on Aug. 27. She claimed she had gone to a party and consumed a lot of alcohol. She said she didn't remember returning to her dorm, but somehow she did and couldn't find her keys, so she asked several other students to help her get into the building.

She then said she woke up hours later, naked, with five naked men. The school's counseling center had referred her to the school's advocacy center, which referred her to the college police. Now, more than a month later, the prosecutor's office is concluding its investigation without charging any of the accused men.