<p>K.C. chose to file a suit against the school and the coach. Why didn’t she and the other women file criminal charges and why weren’t the offending male cheerleaders named as defendants in the civil suit?</p>
<p>The answers to your questions are all spelled out in the lawsuit posted at SmokingGun: What crimes were commited? This is a civil suit, to address a civil wrong – the loss of a scholarship and other damages flowing from the alleged actions and subsequent retaliation against the plaintiff. The conduct was offensive, but not (as far as I can see) criminal. As to the male cheerleader, the lawsuit alleges that he was “put on probation” by the school in response to the plaintiff’s complaints; whereas the coaches (school employees and presumably the persons with authority and responsibility for oversight over the situation, allegedly were aware of the problem, and both did not stop it and actually participated in it, and the school has done nothing in response.</p>
<p>I don’t know the truth of the case, but the allegations are pretty clear.</p>
<p>Hmmmm…‘teabagging’, groping, etc. sounds like a criminal act to me.</p>
<p>From a women’s crisis support services site:
“Criminal vs. civil sexual harassment: Offensive touching (of butt, genitals, breasts) is defined as sexual battery (or assault and battery, which includes the fear or threat of being touched). Sexual harassment can be prosecuted as a criminal case through the D.A.'s office when it involves such unlawful touching or the threat thereof.”</p>
<p>…and good luck with that. Criminal prosecution is discretionary. Any unwelcome touhing, of any kind, is included in the statutory definition of “battery.” But if you touch someone’s arm while arguing with them you’re not going to be convicted of a crime, even though you have violated the language of the statute. And the stuff described in this lawsuit, while offensive, isn’t the sort of thing a DA is going to file criminal charges over. Civil courts are the appropriate venue for this type of case.</p>