Yahoo Sports Utah State police chief told football team to be wary of premarital sex with Mormon women
The University of Utah State's police chief told football players this year that they should beware of having sex with women who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because those women may end up telling their bishops that the sex wasn't consensual.
A recording of police chief Earl Morris was obtained by the Salt Lake Tribune and published as part of a story detailing a student's Title IX lawsuit against the school. In the recording, there is laughter after Morris tells players that a Mormon woman could end up feeling like she regrets having premarital sex and report the encounter as a sexual assault to a church leader.
USU police Chief Earl Morris warned the team that LDS women will often tell their bishop, when questioned about it, that sex was nonconsensual because it’s “easier.” They might be “feeling regret,” he continued, for having sex before marriage, which goes against the faith’s teachings of abstinence, so they’ll say it was assault.
“And if you’re not used to a Mormon community, folks, I’m here to tell you, the Latter-day Saints community ... young ladies, they may have sex with you, but then they’re going to go talk to their minister, their bishop, priest, whatever you want to call it,” Morris said during a team meeting as the school year began — according to a recording recently obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune.
Members of the team laughed and hollered in response to Morris’ comments.
The campus police chief then told the players that no matter what prompts it, if they’re accused of assault, his officers are forced to investigate. And, he added, “the cards are stacked against you from the moment that happens.”
In a statement to the Tribune, Utah State said that it hadn't heard a full recording of Morris' comments but that "it is important to USU that our messaging and trainings reflect the university’s efforts to prevent sexual misconduct, reduce barriers to reporting, and respond to it appropriately when it occurs. The transcribed statements, as presented by the Tribune, are not consistent with the university’s trainings on this matter."
Utah State criticized for handling of sexual assault allegations
The must-read Tribune story details a Title IX suit filed this week by Kaytriauna Flint. She says in her suit that the school systemically protects football players from sexual assault claims and cites a 2019 alleged sexual assault as proof of that.
Flint said she was raped by a football player in 2019 and saw a doctor in Montana the next day after she had traveled home on a scheduled trip. A university Title IX investigation into her accusation was ultimately dismissed this November after an initial ruling said it was more likely than not that Flint was raped by the football player.
Flint says in her suit that USU president Noelle Cockett ruled in December of 2020 that the player didn’t have enough opportunity to appeal the decision in Flint’s favor and the case was reopened.
Cockett’s decision to reopen the case came nearly 10 months after the Department of Justice said the school had mishandled cases of sexual assault on campus and failed to investigate others.
The three-year investigation noted that the school received over 200 reports of sexual harassment from 2013-18 and fewer than 25 went through the proper Title IX procedures.
Assault allegations against members of the football team in that time period were also included in the DOJ report. The report said the school got over 15 allegations of sexual assault by football players in that period and multiple players were accused of sexual misconduct on more than one occasion. However, the report said it wasn't uncommon for cases against football players to be closed not long after they were opened.
Former player convicted of raping six women in 2019
In 2019, former Utah State player Torrey Green was convicted of six different rape charges and a sexual battery charge dating back to his time at Utah State. Green sexually assaulted six women from 2013-15 when he played for Utah State
Investigations into the first accusations against Green didn't go far until they were published by the Tribune. After the paper wrote about the handling of four accusations against Green, other women came forward to say that they had been raped by him.
