Sorority girl at University of Arizona claims she was raped by two men inside college frat house, shares horrific details

A University of Arizona sorority sister has claimed she was raped by two men inside a fraternity house at the college.

The young woman, who has not been identified, described the alleged attack at the Sigma Phi Epsilon home in Tucson to university police in harrowing detail, according to a search warrant affidavit filed in Pima County Superior Court.

The university slapped the fraternity with an activities suspension Wednesday, accusing it of throwing unregistered parties, giving alcohol to minors on the night of the alleged attack and posing “a substantial risk to members of the university community.”

The incident began around midnight on Aug. 26, when the woman was hanging out with friends and SigEp residents in a room at the chapter house on East First Street, the court papers say.

At one point, she and one of the men slipped into the room’s adjoining bathroom and kissed consensually, the affidavit states. Someone opened the door and tried to film them, and the clip was later passed around on Snapchat, the papers say.

“[REDACTED] next remembered waking up in another room that is dark laying on a bed on her back with her legs hanging off. She did not have pants or underwear on; she was only wearing her top,” the search affidavit states.

She told detectives one of the men raped her and performed oral sex on her while repeatedly bending her legs. She also remembered a man on top of her, close enough that she could feel his breath on her face.

“She did not remember the chronological order of the next events,” the report states.

She described the event in harrowing detail, including how she was allegedly orally and vaginally attacked on the night.

She recalled trying to lift her head, only for it to drop back onto the bed. She believed she said “please stop” and shook her head, but later wasn’t certain, according to the filing.

Asked what she was capable of doing during the attack, she told police she was “just laying there.” She said she never touched either man and never agreed to any sexual activity.

The next morning, she woke up beside one of the men, who was completely naked, the affidavit says. She told him “we have to go,” found her pants and underwear on the floor, and the two walked out of the house to her sorority down the street.

She later found a bruise on the front of her neck and had trouble swallowing, which police noted can be a sign of strangulation.

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She got back to her sorority around 6 a.m. and called her mother, a call she has no memory of, before falling asleep.

When she woke up around 11 a.m., she went straight to University of Arizona police. She was then taken to Banner – University Medical Center, where a nurse performed a sexual assault forensic exam.

She told police she’d had a tequila soda and two shots of tequila, and had shared a cup of tequila with friends that night.

`Two days later, detectives had her contact one of the men over Snapchat for a recorded call, according to the documents.

On the call, he admitted they had sex but insisted she said yes and claimed no other man was involved, the affidavit says.

He told her he’d been drunk and was “fuzzy” on the details, and said the group had “killed a handle of tequila.” He also admitted he’d told other people they had sex.

He said they’d been dancing, drinking and wrestling earlier in the night, and that people had filmed them, the papers state.

University police got a warrant on Sept. 8 for the frat’s surveillance video covering 11 p.m. on Aug. 25 through 7 a.m. the next day as part of a sexual assault investigation.

No arrests have been announced, and no one has been charged.

In a letter dated Wednesday, Associate Dean of Students Whitney Mohr told the chapter that the Dean of Students Office had received an official complaint from UAPD and the university’s Office of Institutional Equity.

The complaint alleges SigEp hosted unregistered social events at the house since the start of the fall semester, and gave alcohol to minors on or about Aug. 26 and again on Sept. 29, creating “an environment that is a danger to the university community,” the letter states.

The suspension bans the chapter from hosting, attending or sponsoring any activities until the case is resolved. Only business meetings are allowed.

“All members of Sigma Phi Epsilon are prohibited from having any contact with any alleged victims of these events and/or the victims’ families,” the letter warns.

The chapter could lose university recognition altogether if anyone retaliates against people involved in the investigation, according to the letter.

“Reports of sexual assault are deeply concerning to our campus,” Amanda Kraus, the university’s vice president for student affairs, said in a statement to The California Post.

“We take reports of sexual misconduct seriously and are committed to addressing allegations through established university processes,” Kraus said. She added that students and organizations face discipline when violations are substantiated, but that federal privacy law bars the school from commenting on individual cases.

Kraus said the university offers sexual assault prevention education, prevention programming for fraternities and sororities, and confidential survivor support, including counseling, academic help and safety planning.

The allegations come as the university cracks down on its embattled Greek system.

On Oct. 5, Dean of Students Chrissy Lieberman put all 21 Interfraternity Council chapters on interim activities suspension. In a letter to the Greek community, she said her office was already investigating misconduct reports involving nearly half the chapters, ranging from physical assault and hazing to drug and alcohol violations. Some of those cases are under criminal investigation, she wrote.

“The number of cases under investigation and the severity of the concerns is egregious,” Lieberman wrote.

The letter also revealed that university President Suresh Garimella met with fraternity presidents on Aug. 27, the day after the alleged attack, and warned that the school would not tolerate further violations.

Most chapters have since been reinstated after their advisers attended mandatory meetings with the dean, but five remain suspended. SigEp, which was already on university probation over a hazing complaint, was not among them until Wednesday’s suspension.

SigEp’s national headquarters has said the members involved are suspended pending the investigation and that anyone found responsible will be kicked out of the fraternity.

The California Post has reached out to Sigma Phi Epsilon and Pima County Attorney’s Office for comment.