The unofficial online home for fans of the Kent State University Golden Flashes. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

From today's Plain Dealer:
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf...short_home


KENT, Ohio - A former Kent State University softball player is suing the university and her former coach. She is accusing them of not properly responding after she reported she was raped by the coach's son, a Kent State baseball player.

The civil lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, says former varsity softball coach Karen Linder pressured Lauren Kesterson to keep quiet in spring 2014 after she reported she was raped in 2012.

The lawsuit also claims that little was done after Kesterson reported the coach's behavior to the university.

Cleveland.com does not name victims of sexual assault but Kesterson has agreed to be identified.

See the lawsuit below or click here on a mobile device.

The complaint claims Kent State and Linder violated Title IX, a federal prohibition against sex discrimination in education, and the equal-protection clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as intentionally inflicted emotional distress.

Linder, who resigned in August after 19 seasons, treated Kesterson differently after she reported the rape and criticized her for overly emotional behavior, the lawsuit says. Kesterson was required to visit the Linder family home — which had life-sized wall decal of Linder's son — for softball activities and events.

Kent State does not respond to pending litigation, said spokesman Eric Mansfield. Linder could not be reached for comment.

"College coaches wield considerable power over their athletes," Kesterson's attorney, Subodh Chandra, said in a statement. "But with the power to demand obedience comes the responsibility not to abuse that power. No student-athlete should ever have to choose between reporting sexual abuse and playing the sport she loves."

Here's what happened, according to the lawsuit.

Fall 2012: Kesterson, of Washington state, was recruited to play softball and was given a scholarship to play at Kent State, where she started in fall 2012, the lawsuit says. Kesterson was the team's starting shortstop.

Dec. 7, 2012: She and Tucker Linder were in her dorm room when she consented to "minor intimacies," the lawsuit said. He did not stop when she told him at least 10 times that she didn't want to have sex, the suit says.

Kesterson later went to the campus health center to tested sexually transmitted disease and for pregnancy, according to the lawsuit. She didn't report the incident, her grades suffered, she lost weight and was distressed.

Sept. 2013: Tucker Linder told Kesterson's boyfriend, "Just so you know: I ____ your girl," according to the lawsuit. Kesterson told her parents and close friends of the 2012 sexual assault. She received treatment and realized she needed to notify the university.

May 2014: Kesterson met with Coach Linder and lodged a Title IX complaint with the university.

The lawsuit states that Linder responded by asking who she had told, and then instructing her not to tell anyone else. Linder failed to report the rape as required by university policy.

Days earlier, according to the lawsuit, Linder had reported another softball player's rape allegation to university officials and escorted that woman to campus support services.

Aug. 24, 2015: Kesterson reported her coach's actions to deputy Title IX coordinator Erin Barton, the lawsuit says.

Athletic Director Joel Nielsen intervened to prevent the filing of a formal complaint and no-contact orders, the suit says.

Aug. 29, 2015: Linder resigned without discipline or formal discharge.

The complaint alleges Linder blamed Kesterson for her resignation and the student faced retaliation from coaches, teammates and alumni.

Interim head coach Eric Oakley called a team meeting where he threatened to dismiss any player who had anything bad to say about Linder, the lawsuit states.

Kent State did nothing to prevent or correct the situation and Kesterson was unable to arrange a meeting with Title IX coordinator, Loretta Shields, the lawsuit says.

Kesterson is no longer on the softball team. She never reported the 2012 incident to police.

Here's the story from the Kent Stater. It's much more detailed.

It's almost all from court documents. I worked with hem all afternoon on the story (I'm Stater adviser this semester) and I promise irs an accurate reflection.

Of course it's just her side, but there's an awful lot of verifiable detail in it for her to be making it up.

http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/...l?mode=jqm

The full lawsuit is online somewhere. It's amazing reading. I'll ty to find it and post it.

(02-09-2016 10:34 PM)cschierh Wrote:  Here's the story from the Kent Stater. It's much more detailed.

It's almost all from court documents. I worked with hem all afternoon on the story (I'm Stater adviser this semester) and I promise irs an accurate reflection.

Of course it's just her side, but there's an awful lot of verifiable detail in it for her to be making it up.

http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/...l?mode=jqm

The full lawsuit is online somewhere. It's amazing reading. I'll ty to find it and post it.

.

Read the filing. If true, and that's a big IF, the failure to report an accusation immediately to the institution's designated Title IX coordinator and any proven retaliation have very serious penalties. The court system is the right place for this to play out. Then let the chips fall where the chips fall.

This is a weird one. Your expecting the coach to report that her son raped someone. I suppose she should have reported it and then immediately resigned or asked for a leave of absence. It is a strange one though. How much it will effect Kent depends on what the Athletic Dept did after they found out. It's got to be more than just firing the coach. I guess the victim is saying they did nothing. That if proven true will sure negate anything we have done well lately.

(02-09-2016 01:29 PM)jbails0881 Wrote:  ...the Linder family home — which had life-sized wall decal of Linder's son...

(02-10-2016 06:59 PM)anti-zip Wrote:  

(02-09-2016 01:29 PM)jbails0881 Wrote:  ...the Linder family home — which had life-sized wall decal of Linder's son...

We have a life size wall decal (FatHead) of my son shooting a jump shot in his room. Granted, he is 9.

Today's development is that, according to university documents, Linder basically resigned before she was fired.

http://www.kentwired.com/latest_updates/...2ed80.html

I haven't been able to find any more developments on this story. Any news out there?

(04-05-2016 03:27 PM)KSU93 Wrote:  I haven't been able to find any more developments on this story. Any news out there?

University got an extension until April 22 to file its response.

Very interesting few years for the Linder family. Tom Linder was let go/fired for DUI (long time announcer), Tucker Linder disappeared from the KSU Baseball roster (now we know why), and Karen Linder promptly resigned after having a ton of success & being a huge KSU fan/advocate (now we know why). Ty Linder continues to do an awesome job broadcasting/producing and spreading the word about KSU Athletics. I sure hope we don't lose Ty any time soon.

I have heard a rumor from a few credible sources around Kent that there is another issue/scandal brewing in the KSU Athletic Department (involves KSU Women's Golf Coach & Niesen's wife). Apparently Nielsen's wife forced herself into being a voluntary assistant coach under Robertson and is now accusing him of sexual misconduct. (the Mike Morrow prompt resignation seems to have so many twists & turns since it happened....I am sure Mike said no to Neisen's wife being a voluntary assistant coach, which was probably another strike against him in Nielsen's eyes)

If Nielsen covered up the rape and the rumor I heard is true, I am not sure how he survives it all as KSU's AD moving forward.

It seems like things are deteriorating quickly. The only sport that seems to be improving is wrestling and with 5 seniors graduating this year we might not be able to say that next year. Every time I hear something like this I think of Dr. Kamansense. Maybe he was more right than we thought.

(04-07-2016 12:29 PM)burden Wrote:  It seems like things are deteriorating quickly. The only sport that seems to be improving is wrestling and with 5 seniors graduating this year we might not be able to say that next year. Every time I hear something like this I think of Dr. Kamansense. Maybe he was more right than we thought.

What ever happened to Dr. Kamansense? Haven't heard or seen from him in ages.

He basically gave up on us. Figured we weren't going to listen to him so he decided to quit talking. He was probably right but I wonder what he would say now.

What would he say about one student raping another one? I am sympathetic to the young lady, but the coach who tried to cover it up got fired. What else around here is abnormal? That our budget sucks? That a player or two is leaving the basketball program? This is college athletics and there will always be trials and tribulations. We have seen lately Ohio State has them. Michigan has them. Hell, I just read @ La Tech the women's coach got one of his players pregnant. I am sure **** is happening at other MAC schools and we just don't care enough about them to know what is up. BG's hoops coach got fired for smacking girls on the A$$ in a bar last year. Akron can't pay the bills. I just don't think our issues are abnormal. I do, however, wish they didn't exist.

No one incident is a back breaker but there seems to be a few more than normal. A potential rape and cover up on the softball team, a rumor of some issues with the women's golf team, two basketball transfers with rumors of more, a coach leaving because we can't find $35,000, a bad football team, some deterioration in three of our better programs over the years (men's golf, women's basketball and gymnastics). If all turns out to be true we could be in for a few rough years. Did we really have any more money a few years ago. I honestly don't know but I can't imagine it was too much better.