The state senator that represents Columbia thinks investigation of an alleged rape at the University of Missouri and reported on by ESPN needs to follow two paths.
ESPN on its “Outside the Lines” program reports the University did not investigate or report to law enforcement the allegation that a student athlete, swimmer Sasha Menu Courey, was raped by members of the football team in 2010. Menu Courey committed suicide in 2011.
Columbia Senator Kurt Schaefer calls the situation “very serious.” He was glad to see that the University has turned over information it learned from the ESPN report to Columbia Police, and that MU System President Timothy Wolfe is calling for an independent investigation of how the allegation was handled by the University.
In one of two statements released by the University of Missouri athletics department, it says it believes it did the right thing and was respecting the wishes of Menu Courey’s parents, who its says did not reply when it contacted them about the incident.
Schaefer tells Missourinet he knows the University is refuting points in ESPN’s story, but says, “What I would hope is the University would be focused on really looking back at what happened and making sure policies are sufficient to make sure that something like this doesn’t ever happen, and also that this particular instance is investigated from a criminal perspective to determine whether anyone needs to be prosecuted.”
Schaefer says he hopes that nearly four years later, some physical evidence remains that can help determine whether a crime was committed.
He says he does not anticipate legislative action regarding the case until the investigations are completed and their findings are known.
