Berea College Blames Victim for Being Sexually Assaulted

By Gayle Crabtree

Will the Decision Alienate Alumni and Donors?

Students learn that no means no well before they enter college. Apparently, that lesson is an elective course that some people missed. That could explain why legal counsel for Berea College blames a sexual assault victim for her injuries.

It all began in March 2010, when a Berea College student came forward claiming that she had been sexually assaulted by a (then) professor. The professor was later arrested under the charge of sex abuse which is a Class D felony. In January, Demetrius Semien pleaded guilty to lesser charge of fourth degree assault against the student.

A lawsuit filed by the student against the college is asking for $4,000 in damages. This includes past and future medical bills, mental and physical pain and suffering, punitive damages and also costs surround the litigation and a trial by jury.

The response was decisive. Legal counsel for Berea College blames the sexual assault victim for her injuries and is asking that the suit be dropped. Not only that but legal counsel for Berea College is also asking for "..any and all other relief to which it may be properly entitled".

First legal counsel for Berea College blames the sexual assault victim then it adds salt to the wounds. Not cool.

Sexual assault victims are not responsible being hurt. In today's world, there is no room to say that injuries "were caused and brought about by her own negligence and/or intentional act". This point of view is both harmful and antiquated.

My family has had nothing but overwhelmingly positive contact with the school. As the parent of an alumnus I am deeply saddened by the direction of counsel. As an advocate I am deeply angered.

The Sexual Assault Reporting Guidelines and Information in the Student Handbook tell a different story. It defines a representative as any college representative is any faculty or staff member. Yet, legal counsel for the school says that the former professor did not represent the school. It's difficult to have it both ways.


Advocates work to educate the public about the realities of sexual assault. For years we have taught that no means no. It doesn't mean "maybe" and it doesn't mean "yes" and it doesn't


mean that victims are responsible. Abusers create victims. Victims don't create abusers. It really is that simple.

There is a strong backlash as Berea College blames a sexual assault victim for her injuries. A petition on Change.Org is gaining momentum. Alumni do not support Berea Colleges Statements that place blame on Sexual Assault Victim. Bloggers are writing about it and people are talking about the situation on Twitter.

In this day of funding shortfalls the school would do well to stop the blaming. Every school needs a donor support base to help offset budget shortfalls. The majority of the support usually comes from alumni, their families and the public at large.

Right now, as legal counsel for Berea College blames a sexual assault victim, it is apparent that the alumni are paying attention. Whether they will help the college pay its bills in the future remains to be seen.

Richmond Register
LEX18 News

Gayle Crabtree is Founder and Executive Director of Hope For Healing.Org

Miscarriage of Justice

By Gayle D'Ambrosio Crabtree

This has to be the saddest miscarriage of justice that I have ever seen or heard.  My heart goes out to the families. They were robbed of the justice that they rightfully deserved. 

Channon Christian and Chris Newsom were carjacked, kidnapped, raped repeatedly and horrendously murdered.  Vanessa Coleman is the fourth person to be tried in the spree of evil. Some of the other parties involved received either life without parole or the death penalty. (Read more here.)  

Because media saturation about the case was so intense a jury was brought in from Nashville and sequestered.  Some in Knoxville were already wary because of feelings that the previous Nashville jury let the families of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom down.  It turns out that their concerns may have been warranted. This jury didn't deliver either.

Vanessa Coleman was in the Chipman Street house when Chris Newsom was beaten, raped, bound and set on fire. Whether she may have seen him or not is a matter of lively debate. What is known is that she was in the house while Channon Christian was bound, raped, beaten, sodomized, raped orally and anally. When it was over the monsters who had control of her body stuffed her into several trashbags. Then they threw the still-bound Channon Christian into a trashcan and left her.

At no time did Vanessa Coleman try to get help for Channon. Vanessa claims to have never heard Channon cry out for help or scream. She also claimed that she was afraid of her boyfriend. This was not necessarily backed up by the evidence that was exposed in a journal that Vanessa kept.

An announcement was made early on that Vanessa Coleman would take the stand. Yet, she did not. Many of us in Knoxville were intensely curious as to what she might have to say. Perhaps that is why she decided not to testify on her own behalf?  

Knoxville waited while the Nashville jury deliberated. The victims' families held their breath. The parents of Vanessa Coleman waited. 

When the verdict was finally read no one was smiling - except Vanessa Coleman. Her smile was as bright as the sun. It should be. She was in the house the night that these horrors happened. She never called for help on any of the several cell phones that were in the house. Yet, in the end, she was only found guilty of facilitation of murder. 

Unlike the victims whom she either refused to help (or was unable to help) the life of Vanessa Coleman has been spared. Her sentencing is in July.