SOUTH CAROLINA
The Raw Story
By Travis Gettys
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
A conservative Christian university abruptly dismissed the consulting firm it had hired to look into its handling of sexual assault investigations.
Until recently, students at Bob Jones University who sought counseling for sex abuse were told not to report their claims because turning in a fellow fundamentalist would damage Jesus Christ, reported the New York Times.
Most of the students reported sex abuse that happened when they were children but sought help later, as college students, and administrators branded the victims as liars and sinners, the paper reported.
“The person who supposedly counseled me told me if I reported (another fundamentalist Christian) to the police, I was damaging the cause of Christ, and I would be responsible for the abuser going to hell,” said Catherine Harris, who attended the university in the 1980s. “He said all of my problems were as a result of my actions in the abuse, which mostly took place before I was 12, and I should just forgive the abuser.”
Another former student said when she accused a graduate student of sexual assault in the 1990s, investigators asked what she had been wearing tightly fitted clothing and urged her to keep quiet to protect her reputation.
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