KU police complete investigation into reported rape of 16-year-old at basketball dorm; DA considering charges

By Sara Shepherd     May 10, 2017

Mike Yoder
The $11.2 million McCarthy Hall houses the Kansas men's basketball team to the southeast of Allen Fieldhouse on KU's campus.

The Douglas County District Attorney’s Office is now considering charges in the reported rape of a 16-year-old girl at the apartment building that’s home to the University of Kansas men’s basketball team.

KU police completed their investigation into the report and referred it to the district attorney on Tuesday, according to police records.

District Attorney Charles Branson’s office is reviewing the case for a charging decision, the assistant to the district attorney, Cheryl Wright-Kunard, said Wednesday in an email to the Journal-World. When asked whether a suspect or suspects had been identified, Wright-Kunard said yes but that the district attorney’s office would not disclose any names.

She said there is no timeline for the office’s review of the case or possible charges being filed.

No one had been charged in the case Wednesday morning.

Police are not required to send investigation reports to prosecutors. Deputy Chief James Anguiano of the KU Office of Public Safety did not answer whether forwarding the case indicated that police believe someone should be charged, referring that and other questions to the district attorney’s office.

“They’re the ones that make the decision,” Anguiano said.

The rape of a 16-year-old girl, contributing to a child’s misconduct and furnishing alcohol to a minor were reported to KU police the morning of Dec. 18, 2016. According to the police report, the crimes allegedly occurred between 10 p.m. the night before and 5 a.m. that morning at McCarthy Hall, 1741 Naismith Drive.

McCarthy Hall is an all-male apartment building operated by KU Student Housing. The building houses about 40 students — roughly half KU men’s basketball players and half upperclass, nontraditional or transfer students.

Police have said the 16-year-old victim, who was not a KU student and not from this area, was visiting residents in the building.

Also the morning of Dec. 18, a runaway was reported at McCarthy Hall. Police have not confirmed whether the runaway and the alleged rape victim are the same person.

All five witnesses listed in the rape report are 2016-17 KU men’s basketball team members. The report indicates police contacted three other people in connection with the case: a KU Athletics administrator and two 19-year-old women.

A sixth men’s basketball player is named as a witness in the runaway report, along with the same two 19-year-old women.

Police have not answered why any of those individuals were identified as witnesses or as other contacts in the investigations.

However, police have explained that being a witness in an investigation does not necessarily mean an eyewitness to a crime, but rather someone who may have been in the area before or after or have other pertinent information to the investigation.

The Journal-World first reported the McCarthy Hall rape report on Jan. 24, after a reporter searching past months of police log activity discovered it. The incident was added to the public log Dec. 27, according to KU police.

Reports typically are added to the public log within two days, but the federal Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act allows campus law enforcement to withhold reports from their public logs indefinitely if doing so would jeopardize an ongoing investigation or an individual’s safety.

Initially, the report also contained an allegation of possession of drug paraphernalia.

However, the drug allegation was separated and prosecuted independently from the other crimes in the report.

Basketball player Carlton Bragg Jr., a sophomore from Cleveland who recently left the KU team, was charged Jan. 30 with one count of possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor, in Lawrence Municipal Court. On Feb. 1, Bragg was granted diversion in the case.

KU men’s basketball coach Bill Self suspended Bragg for three games at the time he was charged in the drug case, citing “a violation of team rules.” After the end of the season, Self announced Bragg would transfer from KU. Recent media reports indicate Bragg plans to go to Arizona State University.

KU police said at the time Bragg was charged that there was no indication the drug paraphernalia was related to the sexual assault allegation.

Anguiano confirmed Wednesday that the drug paraphernalia charge is no longer a part of the incident report and that only the other three alleged crimes — rape, contributing to a child’s misconduct and furnishing alcohol to a minor — were part of the case referred to the district attorney.

KU’s spring classes have concluded, and Friday is the last day of finals.

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