After months of silence, Florida State has released a letter detailing the handling of an alleged sexual assault investigation tied to quarterback Jameis Winston.
Florida State’s athletics department first heard about an alleged sexual assault allegedly involving Winston in January 2013. After interviews with Winston and two other football players, Florida State did not file a formal report to the university’s Title IX administrator because no charges were filed by the police following a stalled investigation. This is the story shared by Florida State in a detailed letter released today, breaking months of intended silence on the subject by the university.
“The University has remained silent for one reason: To protect our students, who are after all our highest priority,” the letter from Florida State claims. “But as we expect other stories to appear, it is abundantly clear that the continual drumbeat of misinformation about the University’s actions causes harm to our students, faculty, alumni, supporters and the FSU community as a whole. Because of this, and within the constraints of state and federal privacy laws, we want to share with you more detail to set the record straight.”
A Title IX investigation was launched in November 2013, after the allegations became publicly known. That investigation hit a wall when Winston and the accuser denied an invitation to speak with those investigating the case. Title IX requires a school to investigate sexual assault or harassment if an employee of the university knows or has knowledge about an incident in question. It is still undetermined if Florida State violated Title IX, but it is currently under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
Winston was never charged for any crime, but scrutiny regarding the handling of this case continues from all angles. You can read the contents of the letter in full via Tomahawk Nation.