A Columbia University athlete is accused of raping two women and groping a third — but is still walking around like a big man on campus because the school dropped the ball on investigating him, his accusers told The Post.
The female students said their cases are just one example of the school’s mishandling of sex complaints — tying into an explosive student petition that began circulating on the Ivy League campus in October, demanding that Columbia release more information about its in-house probes on sex assaults.
The school is legally required to release only the number of incidents reported to it every year; in 2012, there were 16 reported “forcible’’ sex incidents.
But it doesn’t have to report how many, if any, of the accused were ever found guilty and if they were disciplined.
The school isn’t even required to report the incidents to police.
That means that if the women don’t go to the police themselves, which they rarely do, the university winds up serving as both judge and jury — and the public never knows the outcome.
“We may know that these . . . cases were reported, but we don’t know where those cases went, we don’t know if they were resolved informally, we don’t know if these people were subject to punishment at all,’’ said Sejal Singh, president of Columbia Democrats, the group circulating the petition.
“The university isn’t compelled by federal law’’ to do certain things, “but we do think as an institution they should be doing a lot more.’’
The three women who told The Post they were attacked by the athlete said they were never encouraged by the school to go to cops.
In two cases, the school also dragged out their investigations for months, they said.
The women allege the athlete assaulted them at various times between fall 2011 and last April.
One woman who said she was raped never got a hearing because of “lack of evidence,’’ the school told her.
Another alleged rape victim lost her hearing, and saw her appeal denied. Her case took seven months.
The alleged attacker was found in violation only of the school’s “gender-misconduct code” in the one case involving allegations of groping. But even that case dragged on for so long that his accuser graduated before the ruling came down, so he dodged his only punishment — staying away from her on campus.
“I [still] see him everywhere, and he can come into my residence hall — he has access to all of the facilities that I do,” said one of the two other women still at the Morningside Heights school.
Columbia, citing federal privacy laws, said it could not comment on specific complaints.
As for the petition, school spokesman Robert Hornsby said in an e-mail Tuesday, “Like our peer universities, we annually publish the number of reported sexual assaults on campus in accordance with the [federal] Clery Act.
“The University’s Presidential Advisory Committee on Sexual Assault is planning to meet with the CU Student Dems and other student leaders who have raised issues about additional disclosures in order to learn more directly about student concerns, share perspectives, and explore possible next steps.’’
Hornsby added, “Students reporting an assault are supported by [university] professionals . . . who work with our Public Safety officers. These trained professionals regularly offer to accompany students to the police precinct to facilitate the filing of a complaint.’’
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