A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill student alleges that she was raped and that a gross mishandling of the case has occurred. Delaney Robinson reported to campus police that she was raped by Allen Artis, linebacker of the university’s football team. Delaney has accused law enforcement, and local prosecutors of ignoring what she claims are overwhelming physical evidence and treating the case too lightly.
Delaney accepted a date with Allen on Valentine’s Day. The two were drinking and at some point, they ended up inside the athletic dormitory. The 18-year-old business student admitted that she had been drinking underage and had consumed enough alcohol that she blacked out.
“I admit that I drank too much,” the young woman told reporters. “I take responsibility for that, but that does not give anyone a right to violate my body.”
Delaney visited a hospital where she underwent a sexual assault examination. Her attorney Denise Branch highlighted the extent of the physical evidence at a press conference.
“The hospital administered a rape kit,” her attorney said. “She had bruising that was suggestive of a physical assault. She had received injuries as a result of blunt-force trauma to her vagina.”
Delaney also reported the incident to campus police who, according to the victim, did not take her complaint seriously.
“They asked me a lot of probing questions,” Delaney explained. “They asked what I was wearing, what I had eaten that day and how much, and what I was drinking. They asked how much I had drank. The campus police asked about my sexual history. They asked if I had told him no, if I led him on, and if I had ever had sex with him before. Campus security treated me as if I were the suspect.”
If that weren’t enough to traumatize Delaney for life, what followed shocked her more than anything.
“Campus police treated Allen as if he had done no wrong,” Delaney said. “They treated him with camaraderie. They comforted him when he became upset. The most disturbing thing is that they laughed with Allen when he talked about how many phone numbers he had collected from women that evening. They assured him that everything would be alright and that he still had a future ahead of him.”
“The prosecuting attorney declined to pursue charges against the accused, Allen Artis,” Branch said during the conference. “My client presented sufficient physical evidence to warrant further investigation into the matter. I was told by the district attorney that ‘blackout’ from being drunk is voluntary and that becoming unconscious is not. I was told that for ‘blackout’ accusations to move forward, proof of force or incapacitation must exist. Delaney awake to bruises around her neck that had not been there before the assault. The justice system has spat in the face of my client, a rape victim, by placing proof of burden only on those raped while drunk.”
Delaney and her attorney researched local laws and discovered that North Carolina law allows for individuals to petition the magistrate to issue an arrest warrant if significant physical evidence exists.
“UNC has a responsibility to keep its students safe,” Delaney said. “Why are they allowing Allen Artis to walk free? He poses a risk to student safety.”
Allen Artis turned himself into authorities shortly after the press conference where he was released on bond.