Woman sues Mike Riley, saying Oregon State culture led to her rape
An Oregon woman has filed a lawsuit against Oregon State University and former head football coach Mike Riley, alleging that Riley failed “to correct a hostile and sexually violent culture among football players that contributed to her being raped,” according to The Oregonian.
The woman alleges in the suit that she was raped in 1999, during her freshman year at the school, after consuming a spiked drink. A man, who said he was visiting the school from elsewhere in the state, then took her to an apartment where Beavers players lived and assaulted her, the woman says.
The woman’s allegations come 10 months after another woman told The Oregonian that she too had been raped in 1998 by two Oregon State football players, an 18-year-old recruit and a 23-year-old junior college football player. The lawsuit alleges that the 1999 assault and 1998 assault occurred at the same apartment complex.
The two Beavers players allegedly involved in the 1998 assault were Calvin Carlyle and Jason Dandridge. Riley suspended them for one game.
In her lawsuit, the woman alleges that the man who attacked her in 1999 is a cousin of Carlyle’s.
Riley, who was hired as the head coach at Nebraska in December, issued a statement on the lawsuit Wednesday.
The woman also alleges that she was met with hostility when seeking help from an OSU sexual assault counselor. The suit seeks $7.5 million in damages.
Riley had two separate stints as Oregon State’s head coach. He coached the Beavers in 1997 and 1998 before jumping to the NFL in 1999 to take over the San Diego Chargers. He was fired by the Chargers after winning 14 games in three seasons, spent one season as an assistant with the New Orleans Saints in 2002 and returned to Oregon State in 2003. He remained at OSU until he replaced Bo Pelini at Nebraska in December.
- Dan Gartland
