Police may have hit a potential roadblock in the fraternity Facebook scandal that rocked the Penn State community.
The case may be stalled unless victims are willing to step forward and press charges.
As it stands, it might be well over a year before the State College Police Department finishes its investigation.
Lt. Keith Robb, a detective working on the case, says exactly what happens next and when it happens depends on the women who were allegedly victimized by fraternity members.
“We have two years to file charges, but we can’t go victimless on this,” Robb says. “We need someone to decide that they want to go to court.”
Kappa Delta Rho made national headlines in March for allegedly hosting a private Facebook page with multiple photos of nude, unconscious women and drug use.
Robb says any possible charges that police could file – including invasion of privacy and harassment – require a victim who wants to go through the justice system.
“It takes a lot of effort and courage to pursue charges, and it can also be an embarrassing process,” Robb says. “We’ve explained to the women what their options are, and they’re exercising their right to think it over.”
If any of the alleged victims decide to press charges, police have to do so by January 2017.
In the meantime, Robb says police are trying to identify one woman who appeared in multiple photos posted on that Facebook page. He also says that at least one man who appeared nude in some of the photos has been identified by police.
Robb confirms that detectives have already interviewed multiple fraternity members and alleged victims, but declines to say exactly how many.
“We are not closing this case until the two years are up, or until everyone makes their decisions about whether to pursue charges,” Robb says.
Earlier this week, Penn State finished its investigation into the KDR chapter. University officials revoked the chapter’s recognition as a fraternity at Penn State for three years for repeatedly sharing degrading photos of women without their consent. Penn State is also pursuing disciplinary action against some individual fraternity members, but the details of individual cases are not available to the public.
James Vivenzio, the Kappa Delta Rho brother who went to police in January, made his first public statement on the case in a statement issued by his attorney yesterday. Although he is happy that Penn State is “finally taking seriously” the alleged misconduct at KDR, he says there is still plenty of work to be done.
“Suspending KDR now is only a small step toward what needs to be done to stop the blatantly abusive practices at KDR that I experienced first hand, and at other fraternities,” Vivenzeio says in the statement. “Penn State can and must do much more to stop hazing and sexual harassment and should commit to lead by example.”
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include comment from James Vivenzio.
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