CHARLOTTESVILLE, Virginia — A five-month police investigation into an alleged gang rape at the University of Virginia, described in graphic detail in a Rolling Stone article, showed no evidence the attack took place and was stymied by the accuser’s unwillingness to cooperate, authorities said Monday.
The article entitled “A rape on campus” traced the story from a student identified only as “Jackie,” who said she was raped at a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house on September 28, 2012. Police said there were numerous discrepancies between the article and what they found in their investigation.
“All I can tell you is that there is no substantive basis to conclude that what was reported in that article happened,” Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said.
Longo said Jackie first described a sexual assault in May 2013 when she met with a dean about an academic issue, but “the sexual act was not consistent with what was described” in the Rolling Stone article. When she met with police, she didn’t want them to investigate the alleged assault.
She also refused to talk to police after the article was printed in November and ignited a national conversation about sexual assaults on college campuses. Discrepancies in the article were found by news organizations soon after it was published.
Rolling Stone has apologized and said it would investigate.
Longo said the case is suspended, not closed. He said the fact that investigators could not find evidence “doesn’t mean that something terrible didn’t happen to Jackie.”
