A new federal lawsuit claims Indiana University repeatedly ignored previous sexual assault allegations and allowed a now-former IU football player to stay on the team until he was accused of raping two other women in 2022.
Connor Delp was arrested on several rape charges in May 2023. He has denied the allegations.
The lawsuit, filed by one of the victims and her parents, is against Delp, Indiana University and the IU Board of Trustees. IU Health Bloomington is also listed as a plaintiff in the lawsuit. The victim claims she was told to wait several days for a sexual assault examination and was not provided with resources.
“IU officials and administrators ignored Delp’s history of sexual misconduct and failed to institute corrective measures, policies, customs, and practices to protect other students from sexual assault by allowing Delp to remain enrolled at IU,” the lawsuit reads.
In a statement, IU Spokesman Mark Bode said the university does not comment on pending litigation.
IU Health also declined to comment on this story.
NOVEMBER 2022 RAPE ALLEGATIONS
As previously reported, the woman said the rape happened in November 2022 while she and her friend were over at Delp’s apartment.
Delp allegedly began grabbing her face and kissing her while forcibly touching her in "uncomfortable places." Delp allegedly continued, and began having sex with the victim, who told police that she had shuck her head no but was "unable to physically say anything because of her fear."
The assault reportedly continued until the other woman woke up to crying. Court documents say the woman told police she shouted once waking up, and the two gathered their things and left the apartment. The two women told police that once they had left, they had realized that both women were assaulted.
OCTOBER 2021 SEXUAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS
The lawsuit claims the November rape was not Delp’s first time being accused of sexual misconduct—or the first time that IU knew about it.
Just a year prior in 2021, Delp was accused of sexually assaulting a female student on Halloween at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity party.
The lawsuit claims IU had “actual notice” of the the assault because a report was filed with IU Police.
Delp, who was a walk-on freshman for the IU football team, was later “withheld from all football team activities” during a portion of the 2021 season. He’d later redshirt to get an extra year of eligibility.
The following year, Delp was back on campus as an IU student and was listed as a wide receiver on the 2022 Indiana Football roster. He was dismissed from the team in January 2023.
“IU fostered an environment of foreseeable, rampant, and unpunished sexual assault,” the lawsuit states.
NO AVAILABLE SEXUAL ASSAULT EXAM
The lawsuit was also filed against IU Health Bloomington for what the victim’s attorneys called “a post-assault policy of deliberate indifference” by not providing appropriate care and support.
After the assault, the woman went to the emergency room at IU Health Bloomington Hospital for a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination (SANE) and evidence collection the lawsuit states.
She was told a SANE nurse would not be at the hospital until 7:00 p.m., and the woman decided she would wait.
Hospital staff later informed her no SANE nurse would be coming and that she would have to come back on Monday.
WHERE THE CRIMINAL CASE STANDS
Delp is facing charges of two counts of rape, both level 3 felonies, sexual battery, a level 6 felony, and battery, a Class B misdemeanor. He was arrested in May 2023 after an Bloomington Police investigation.
Earlier this year, a judge denied a request to dismiss the charges. Delp and his attorneys filed the dismissal request in August 2023 and made their arguments in court during an October hearing.
Delp is due back in court for a pretrial hearing on January 23. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 16 years for each Level 3 felony and up to two and a half years for a Level 6 felony, according to Indiana sentencing guidelines.
