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State Rep. Kim Coleman wants to give university officials the option to alert police if they are aware of multiple sexual assault allegations against the same student.
She filed a proposed measure this week that would allow institutions to supersede a victim's request for confidentiality if they determine there is an "articulable and significant threat" to students on campus.
"We're trying to seek a balance between honoring the alleged victim's right to privacy and confidentiality, but if a time comes when the institution feels like there is a risk to other students, then we allow them to choose to engage law enforcement," said Coleman, R-West Jordan.
Coleman used the case of Torrey Green, a former Utah State University linebacker now charged in seven alleged sexual assaults, as an example of why the bill is important.
Victims have a "right to confidentiality, but then you have a Torrey Green situation where it seems like, why would we see repeat offenses? Why didn't the institution do something?" Coleman said.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported in July that four women — who did not know each other — separately reported to police in 2015 that they allegedly were sexually assaulted by Green. Three of the women were students and informed the school.
But it does not appear that USU fully investigated or sanctioned Green. USU, citing student privacy, denied an open-records request last year for communication involving the accused man. Logan police, asked for any communication from the department to school officials about the student, said none existed.
Under Title IX, a federal law that requires universities to swiftly respond to complaints of sexual violence, schools must take action if there is a potential continuing threat to students. When universities have a credible report that a student has sexually abused multiple students, the law says, "that pattern of conduct should trigger an inquiry," even without a formal complaint from an alleged victim.
Coleman said her measure does not detract from a university's obligation to investigate sexual violence under Title IX, but allows universities to involve law enforcement simultaneously.
"There should be some triggers [for universities] that maybe this is bigger than we're able to handle," she said, adding that university officials have not been trained in law enforcement procedures or gathering evidence, for example.
To determine whether an alleged attack is an "articulable and significant threat," the bill states that universities must consider the alleged perpetrator's history of sexual violence — based on either university and police records — as well as whether the person has threatened further sexual violence or the alleged attack was committed by more than one individual.
The measure would apply to both public and private institutions and would grant amnesty to alleged victims, or individuals who may have witnessed an attack, for student code violations.
Coleman said she wants "students to feel comfortable coming forward ... without getting in other types of trouble with the university."
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