Victim of alleged serial rapist sues Louisiana Tech

One year after a student was accused of serial sexual assaults at three Louisiana college campuses, a woman he allegedly raped while attending Louisiana Tech University is now suing the school, claiming Tech and other institutions could have stopped the spree if they followed state law.

A woman identifying herself as Jane Doe filed suit last week in the Middle District of Louisiana federal court against the college systems that govern Tech, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and Louisiana State University, as well as the Lafayette city-parish government.

Doe claims Victor Daniel Silva raped her at his Ruston apartment while they were both Tech students in September 2018.

Silva made headlines in May 2021 when it was revealed that at least six different women had reported him for sexual assault throughout his stints at LSU, UL Lafayette and Tech, but each time he transferred out before the schools investigated him.

The schools failed to communicate those reports with each other, Doe claims, and each time they did nothing to stop Silva from transferring, which the lawsuit alleges was in violation of a 2015 state law.

Silva

As the Leader reported a year ago, Doe’s rape allegation against Silva reached the desks of Tech administration, university police, the Ruston Police Department and 3rd Judicial District Attorney John Belton’s office in December 2018, but no arrest was made, and Tech did not pursue a Title IX investigation.

Defendants, including the University of Louisiana System that oversees Tech and UL Lafayette, “refused to share information concerning reports of student sexual assault, continued to employ disjointed approaches to sexual assault complaints, and… ignored student rights guaranteed by Title IX,” the complaint claims.

Title IX is the federal law that prohibits gender discrimination in education institutions. Sexual misconduct investigations fall under universities’ Title IX offices.

The suit says the rape Doe experienced was a direct result of the “deliberate indifference” of the UL system.

Silva and Doe

Silva arrived in Ruston in the fall quarter of 2018 with a clean record on paper.

He had already been arrested in East Baton Rouge Parish for second-degree rape in 2015 but never convicted.

At least two women at LSU and three at UL Lafayette had already reported Silva to law enforcement for sexual assault before his arrival at Tech. LSU had banned him from campus and UL Lafayette had placed him on disciplinary probation.

But both the lawsuit and Tech officials themselves have claimed Tech wasn’t notified of any of this past behavior.

Doe’s lawsuit and a Ruston Police Department report the Leader obtained a year ago are consistent in summarizing Doe’s account of allegedly being raped by Silva just weeks after he arrived on campus.

Doe, Silva and his roommate were studying at Silva’s apartment late on a September night, and Doe had been drinking heavily.

She fell unconscious alone on Silva’s bed, intending to sleep off the liquor, and Silva “groped” her and attempted to have intercourse with her while she was unconscious.

Awakening, Doe repeatedly made attempts to resist Silva. Still inebriated and unable to maintain resistance as he held her down, she eventually gave in.

The lawsuit claims Doe didn’t immediately report Silva because she didn’t even know his last name and feared no one would believe her.

But that December she saw a group chat with Silva’s photo and full name, warning women at Louisiana universities that he had been reported for sexual assault several times.

That’s when she decided to report Silva to Tech’s Title IX office, the lawsuit states. The RPD’s report includes this explanation as well.

Tech’s response

Tech administrative officials spoke with the Leader about their handling of the incident when it was first reported last year. Upon a request for comment last week, University Communications referred the Leader to the UL System.

Doe took her complaint to Carrie Flournoy, Tech President Les Guice’s administrative assistant and, at the time, part-time Title IX coordinator. Flournoy has since been replaced by Tech’s first full-time Title IX coordinator.

“Ms. Flournoy told Ms. Doe that the university had been receiving calls and reports about Silva, and they were ‘waiting for someone to come forward with an accusation against him,’” the lawsuit states.

University officials took Doe first to campus police and then to the RPD to file reports against Silva. That was a Friday.

After the weekend, Tech officials learned Silva had just transferred to UL Lafayette. They told Doe the case was out of their jurisdiction, and there would not be a Title IX investigation unless Silva returned to Tech.

After interviewing Doe and filing text messages between her, Silva and his roommate into evidence, the RPD turned the case over to the 3rd Judicial District Attorney’s office.

When questioned about the case last year, First Assistant District Attorney Laurie James said the DA’s office and RPD agreed no arrest was warranted.

State law

Act 172, known as the “Campus Accountability and Safety Act,” was signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal in 2015.

It required the state Board of Regents to draft a policy mandating that “institutions withhold transcripts of students seeking a transfer with pending disciplinary action relative to sexually-oriented criminal offenses, until such investigation and adjudication is complete.”

Last year Tech attorney Justin Kavalir said Tech’s interpretation of the law led them to believe the Silva case didn’t fall under this requirement, since he left before any action could be taken.

“During this time, we were not under the impression that we had the ability to hold individuals who are no longer students accountable under our disciplinary process,” Kavalir said.

“So whenever this complaint came to us, and it became time to move ahead with that, this individual was already no longer a student here. So it was our belief that we were not able to proceed with the student disciplinary process and that we had no ability to hold his transcript.”

These and many other sexual misconduct incidents at LSU in recent years prompted the Louisiana Legislature to pass another act last year that strengthened these and other requirements for university investigation procedures. The Silva case was repeatedly referenced throughout that process.

Tech officials last year pledged that transcript holds would now be placed as soon as a student is accused of sexual misconduct, preventing any transfer until an investigation can take place.

UL System President Jim Henderson issued a statement following the filing of Doe’s lawsuit that focused on the recent updates to misconduct procedures.

“The work of the last two years to prevent power based violence on college campuses in Louisiana was informed by deeply troubling narratives,” Henderson said.

“A pillar of these advancements ensures effective communication between institutions and local law enforcement. Act 439 of the 2021 legislative session built on the work of Act 172, advancing our policy environment and illustrating the importance of continuous evaluation of policy and practice to protect students.”

The suit

Doe’s complaint was filed by attorneys with the Washington D.C.-based Fierberg National Law Group and the Baton Rouge-based Cazayoux Ewing Law Firm.

It accuses the UL System Board of Supervisors of negligence and depriving Doe of her Title IX rights. The LSU system and Lafayette Consolidated Government are also accused of negligence.

The suit demands a trial by jury and asks for damages in an amount to be determined by the jury.