Travis Walton denies allegations... victim comments on ESPN story

Submitted by blahblahblahh on

Not sure if this is thread-worthy, but I found this interesting. Since there isn't another thread on Walton's statement today, I figured it might be worth posting. 

As you guys probably saw, Walton denied both allegations with a written statement today. I was looking through the comments on ESPN and saw that the victim Ashley Thompson actually commented on the article, saying, "It was plead down because Tom Izzo runs East Lansing, period."

Insane that this girl had a documented concussion and nothing came of this.

I'm not a Twitter person, but if you are it might be worth passing this screencap on to the Twittersphere, maybe tagging some reporters or something.

 

BOX House

January 30th, 2018 at 8:51 PM ^

I really don't understand the lack of backlash against Valenti/MSU folks posting witch hunt on every social media site in existence. Thought I'd already lost faith in the world, until I started reading comments on this article. I really think society is on the path to exterminating itself. 

Bambam

January 31st, 2018 at 12:37 AM ^

I ventured to RCMB the other day, and that “fat” comment is nothing compared to what they had to say about the sexual assault counselor that was cited in the OTL report

wildbackdunesman

January 30th, 2018 at 9:03 PM ^

Walton also denied that he was ever accused of a gang rape to ESPN, yet there is an internal MSU memo saying that he and 2 players were accused and the matter was discussed with the team.

(1) Was Walton lying to ESPN or was Hollis lying on the internal memo?  Is it possible that Hollis took the alledged gang rape and didn't even notify the players that they had been accused?  If not, why did Walton lie to ESPN?

(2) Why wasn't Title IX contacted per US laws?

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

January 30th, 2018 at 11:13 PM ^

I hypothesized that the ESPN inquiry with Izzo on Sunday was intended to get him on record about Walton because they have a smoking gun about the sexual assault. I believe the Title IX report & process failed to happen and I believe the victim or a counselor steered ESPN to that discovery. ESPN has pursued the FOIA vs MSU with some consistent, specific dates. I think Hollis recognized the issue but it was too late to falsify documents. Once they sent him the 9 topics for his comment prior to airing, it was clear ESPN possibly had the Walton incident. Izzo was caught off guard because the reporter didn’t ask about the assault, but why Walton left the program. He also hoped the issue would be pinned on Hollis for failure to process.

clarkiefromcanada

January 31st, 2018 at 12:10 AM ^

ESPN has the goods on Walton, most likely. Their targeted questions lead one  to believe that they were steering Izzo in a certain direction.

Any Sparty who believes that Hollis just retired is a moron. He got out before the shit hit the fan. 

He'll still be liable though and his reputation ruined with the rest of them.

Remember when God Fearing Hugh Freeze and Ole Miss were innocent also?

wildbackdunesman

January 31st, 2018 at 6:00 AM ^

Yes, ESPN says they have an internal MSU memo.

Per the memo: (1) a female student claimed that Walton and 2 unnamed basketball players raped her AND tried to rape another student as well.  (2) Hollis handled the investigation.  (3) Izzo was informed.  (4) No players were reprimanded.  (5) No mention of contacting the Title IX office or any outside the atheltic department assistance was used.

It is illegal for Hollis and Izzo to know of an alleged rape through their occupation and not report it to the Title IX office.

ESPN asked MSU if this alleged gang rape was reported to the Title IX office and MSU gave a non-answer response about having high standards that they don't always live up to...which can imply no that they did not contact Title IX.

Hollis and Izzo broke the law.  What will Izzo's excuse be?  That he thought Hollis already reported it so it was okay for him not to?  So in the meantime, he kept the 3 alleged rapists on the team.

Wouldn't it be a dandy if the two alleged rapists from the memo, which weren't named, were Payne and Appling where Spartan Silence is giving them a second pass to rape someone!  Payne and Appling were still on the team during this alleged rape.  If so, MSU deserves a post-season ban.

January
February
Serial-Rapists?
April

 

umchicago

January 31st, 2018 at 12:54 PM ^

the appling/payne rape occurred at freshmen orientation, iirc.  this rape allegation involving walton has been reported to occur a few months before that one.  so my guess is that walton was with two other likely important players, and since this one was hid under the rug, msu also had to cover-up the appling/payne rape.

they couldn't take a risk of what appling/payne would do if dismissed from the team, knowing the other incident was covered-up.  why dismiss them if no action was taken against walton et al?  disgusting i know, but once you set a precendent... 

DOBlue48

January 30th, 2018 at 9:36 PM ^

I do not posess a MENSA member card, so could someone please explain to me just how in the fuck can an assault charge be dropped and replaced by a littering charge?  

This is probably going to get negged like a bitch, but I asked my wife that same question and she said that maybe the prosecutor decided that since Winston was responsible for placing her on the ground that he somehow littered....she said this in bewildered jest mind you.

But seriously, anyone out there with legal or prosecutorial experience...how does this even make sense?

xtramelanin

January 30th, 2018 at 9:43 PM ^

it is a legal fiction created when the charge and the resolution are quite different.  it was a civil infraction in place of a misdemeanor. it happens in some scenarios.  the example above seems way out of line, but i'll give you one that happened today and is fairly normal.  a guy got a ticket for fishing without a license.  he actually bought one on-line while the DNR guy wrote him up, everyone was pleasant about it.  the prosecutor offered a civil infraction. the final 'charge' was a civil infraction for violating state forest rules, fine up to $500.   

in the digital age a misdemeanor of any sort can really screw up a person's school/employment/credit.   a civil infraction won't.  

superstringer

January 30th, 2018 at 11:03 PM ^

Does anyone even get charged with littering anymore?

Thats like charging someone with failure to hitch your horse when at the post office. Like it might still be in the books but I cant say anyone here ever met someone accused of littering.

Although , I suppose, leaving a girl out cold sprawled on the ground like trash ... yeah, littering, I can see that, sure.

NRK

January 31st, 2018 at 1:11 PM ^

I'm not a prosecutor, but I see enough conviction records and incident repots in my job and talk with my friends who are/were prosecutors to comfortably say that in general, pleas down to lesser charges happen all the time.

 

Now from assault to littering? I think that's much less common, but fact-specific. You'd probably need a decent reason to go that low. Perhaps, influence from a powerful school athletic department or something similar. 

Mitch Cumstein

January 30th, 2018 at 10:24 PM ^

They are going beyond penn state now. Somehow bc Walton had a lawyer(s) draft and release a denial that means he didn’t do it and Izzo & Dantonio are above board? The break from reality that this has caused Sparty Nation is pretty wild. Does anyone really doubt whether or not he hit the girl in the bar? The question is if Izzo/AD had a hand in making it go away.

BigBlue02

January 30th, 2018 at 10:39 PM ^

Unfortunately I went over to RCMB and quite a few people don’t believe he hit the girl. One guy even suggested she fell off her barstool while drunk and knocked herself out. But yeah, there’s no rape culture over there where the first reaction is to doubt accusers. Burn that fuckin place to the ground and start over

MgoHillbilly

January 31st, 2018 at 12:43 AM ^

They've adopted a see no evil, hear no evil position and don't realize the irony of it. They pretended to be outraged and upset over the nassar news, sanctimoniously claiming that they will do the right thing in the face of a scandal unlike their psu brethren. But they became complicit in rape enabling and victim shaming as soon as the sports to which they have tied their self-worth were exposed. They want to claim innocence in all matters not involving a criminal conviction with proof beyond a reasonable doubt when the proper standard for disciplinary action should be probable cause. Do they not understand that probable cause is enough to incarcerate a defendant until trial even though they may be presumed innocent by the law? They somehow believe that the actions of a prosecutor to reduce a charge means the officer who made the arrest believed no assault happened? They can't imagine that the influence of the university and specifically the coaches has infected the police department and prosecutor's offices? Their stupidity doesn't surprise me, it's the willful ignorance and cognitive dissonance that I find amazing.

Boner Stabone

January 30th, 2018 at 10:45 PM ^

With Engler now the Interim Pres.  Izzo and Dantonio will be safe.  Engler is buddies with Pete Secchia who is a big time MSU donor.  There is no way he fires Izzo and Dantonio. 

Engler will make sure Izzo and Dantonio are not liable on any of the accounts, but that it was the prosecutor's fault.  As much as a weasel Izzo is and as much of a douche canoe Dantonio is, I am afraid the will still be at MSU.

Ty Butterfield

January 30th, 2018 at 10:56 PM ^

I now think neither Izzo or Mork will be gone. Of course MSU is taking a page out of OSU’s playbook and will refuse to cooperate.

Fezzik

January 31st, 2018 at 2:03 AM ^

It looks to me like Izzo actually has a tiny bit of conscience or morality and his guilt is eating him alive now that his sins are being brought into the public light. Dantonio on the other hand seems sociopathic where even after his sins are (likely) proven he somehow believes he has done no wrong.