What we know about the sexual assault investigations surrounding Michigan State football

Three players are facing charges, and a private report says Mark Dantonio followed protocol.

Monday brought two pieces of news surrounding the Michigan State football program and its handling of sexual misconduct allegations against its players.

A private counsel’s report by the law firm Jones Day found that the program’s head coach, Mark Dantonio, correctly handled reports of such misconduct when they were brought to him in January and April.

Shortly after the release of that report, more news broke that three MSU players would face sexual assault charges in connection with the January incident. But it’s still not clear who those players are. Via the Detroit Free Press:

The decision was announced in a release from Ingham County Prosecuting Attorney Carol Siemon's office late Monday, which said charges have been authorized.

The authorization means police can now obtain arrest warrants from a judge or magistrate. A clerk in 54B District Court in East Lansing said that will not happen Monday.

Siemon's office did not release the names of those who will be charged.

"I have decided to authorize sexual assault charges against the three persons whose warrants were requested by the MSU Police," Siemon said in a statement. "We are alleging that on the night of January 16, those three persons sexually assaulted a woman in an East Lansing apartment on campus."

Michigan State also dismissed defensive lineman Auston Robertson shortly before he was charged in an April criminal sexual assault investigation by Meridian Township Police. The case is separate from the one alleged to have occurred in January involving three of Robertson’s former teammates.

There are three independent investigations into what went on within the program in regards to the January case.

One is the criminal investigation conducted by East Lansing’s police department. The second investigation pertains to potential Title IX violations as well as remedies to a potentially hostile educational environment. The third was a privately commissioned investigation to determine if Michigan State correctly handled allegations of sexual misconduct against its football players.

The criminal investigation resulted in charges being authorized against three unnamed players by the Ingham County prosecutor's office.

The Title IX investigation, which is still ongoing, was outsourced by the school to former Interim Deputy Title IX Coordinator Rebecca Veidlinger. Per her LinkedIn profile, Veidlinger left MSU after an eight-month tenure in East Lansing. She is currently listed as an “Independent Title IX Investigator and Consultant.”

The commissioned investigation into the football team’s response to sexual assault conducted by Jones Day was not looking for criminal wrongdoing or Title IX violations, specifically.

On Monday, the firm released the findings of its investigation, which didn’t turn up any wrongdoing at the highest levels of the football program.

Some notable passages from that report (which can be read in full here):

• After hearing of a potential “sexual misconduct” incident involving a Michigan State player in January, Dantonio “followed MSU policy and his training on that policy,” reporting the incident to the school’s Office of Institutional Equity and informing the appropriate parties (and nobody else) on campus, while not interfering with an investigation. The report says the coach “again took prompt and appropriate action” when another player was accused of sexual misconduct in April.
• The report also found the responses of “senior leaders” to be adequate:

In both instances, we found that senior leaders within the football program and the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics (Athletic Department) complied with the RVSM policy by promptly and accurately reporting the information they learned about the underlying incidents to departments within the University that are tasked with investigating and responding to such incidents. We also found no evidence that senior leaders within the football program or Athletic Department attempted to impede, cover up, or obstruct the Office of Institutional Equity’s (OIE’s) investigation into the underlying incidents.

• In addition to the three players. Multiple outlets were able to confirm through Michigan State that the unnamed staffer in the report was Curtis Blackwell. Blackwell has been suspended from the program for a few months.

Blackwell was suspended on Feb. 9 for what a letter from Michigan State athletic director Mark Hollis deemed "serious allegations regarding your conduct." His contract was not extended when it expired on May 31. He has not responded to requests for comment.

Blackwell was previously given one-month contract extensions on his deal to extend him through the month of May. He served as director of college advancement and performance.

• While the report does not mention Blackwell by name, it does includes a passage about a “suspended staff member” who declined to be interviewed. Other than the suspended staffer, the investigation “found no evidence” that football staff members violated the school’s Policy on Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct.

A report like Jones Day’s is limited in what it can provide.

A privately hired outside group like Jones Day doesn’t have the discovery power that law enforcement does. Police and the school’s Title IX office aren’t bound to the same conclusions reached in the firm’s report. Also, the firm’s conclusions are not legally binding.

In a statement regarding the independent counsel’s findings, MSU spokesman Jason Cody said:

“Every employee has a clear responsibility to follow the university’s well-established reporting protocols regarding sexual assault. MSU will not tolerate failure to follow established reporting protocols, interference with law enforcement efforts, or lack of cooperation with any Title IX investigation.”