SAN DIEGO — A gang rape survivor who shares her story on college campuses across the country said she's frustrated and angry over the San Diego County District Attorney's decision not to pursue criminal charges against three former San Diego State football players accused of rape.
"The message is 'You can do everything right, everything society told you to do to pursue justice, and it still won't happen for you," said Brenda Tracy, founder of the non-profit Set the Expectation.
"On social media, I see survivors saying, 'This is exactly why I didn't report, and I'm glad I didn't,' and that's terrible," she added.
Wednesday, the San Diego County District Attorney's Office announced there would be no criminal charges against Aztecs' former punter, Matt Araiza, and two former teammates, Zavier Leonard and Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko.
According to the DA's December 7 statement, "prosecutors determined it is clear the evidence does not support the filing of criminal charges, and there is no path to a potential criminal conviction."
In 1998, Tracy was gang raped by four football players in Oregon. She's made it her mission to fight against the ongoing sexual assault problem in college athletics.
Tracy shared her story with the SDSU football team back in 2021, just weeks after the teenage accuser said she was gang raped. Tracy said at the time of her speech, SDSU never informed her a rape investigation was underway.
"It would've been great to know they had just had a gang rape happen before I went in there and shared my story," said Tracy.
"Then I find out about all this through the media that I had been brought in that way," she said.
"It's not that schools don't bring me in for PR and that kind of thing, but this was especially egregious to me," Tracy added.
She said she's been in touch with the teenager at the center of the SDSU case, who is now 18.
"It's not just the trauma of the assault itself, which for her, is horrific. But then you later on additional trauma when the systems out there that are supposed to help you don’t. We have this idea 'We’re going to go to the police, they’ll serve and protect me, and I’m going to be helped.' And when none of that happens, what do you do with that? That’s additional trauma and worse than the initial trauma," Tracy said.
SDSU continues investigating incidents, looking at possible policy changes to protect students on and off campus. The university also has the authority to discipline its students.
CBS 8 reached out to SDSU President Adela de la Torre, but she declined to be interviewed. She has been silent on the incident for the past 14 months, declining multiple interview requests. We also requested information concerning the status of the former Aztec football players named in a lawsuit filed in August.
An SDSU spokesperson responded with the following statement:
"On July 22, the San Diego Police Department notified the university that it could now proceed with its own university process without compromising SDPD’s ongoing criminal investigation. The university began its student conduct investigation, according to California State University systemwide policy. The university has been exploring potential policy violations and will continue to review all known and confirmed information and evidence through the lens of SDSU and CSU policies. This process involves identifying any violations beyond the confines of Title IX, including CSU policies related to discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct, and violence. For more information about the university’s process, see the CSU Policy Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, Sexual Exploitation, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Retaliation. This information, as part of a detailed timeline of the reported case, is available on the university’s dedicated Investigation into Reported Off-Campus Incident webpage.
SDSU can confirm that Nowlin Pa'a Ewaliko and Zavier Leonard still have student status but are not currently enrolled in any classes.
Additionally, the president is not scheduling media interviews at this time given the university’s ongoing investigation."
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