Ex-IU student gets 1-day sentence in rape case
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A former Indiana University student charged in connection with two rape cases was sentenced to one day in jail after the rape charges against him were dropped.
The case has drawn national media interest after the accused, John Enochs, was sentenced as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Enochs pleaded guilty last week to a lesser charge of battery by moderate bodily injury. A felony, according to prosecutors, that was knocked down to a misdemeanor “at the court’s discretion.”
A phone call placed with the judge was not immediately returned.
Prosecutors say the rape charges against Enochs were dropped because of evidence problems.
“After the case(s) was filed, evidence continued to be developed that lead us to the conclusion that neither case, standing alone, presented sufficient evidence to prove rape,” Monroe County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Robert Miller said in a emailed statement to I-Team 8. “This turn of events was frustrating for us as prosecutors, due to the fact that there were two complaints against the defendant.”
Court records show that Enochs was accused of raping two female IU students in two separate incident — in 2013 and 2015.
In the most recent case, a woman told an IU Police Department officer that she was attending an event at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity in April 2015 when she found herself “in a private room, naked, with an unknown male having sex with her.” The woman told police that she tried to push the male off of her and said no several times. She later told a friend, “I was trying to leave but he kept making me stay by pushing me down.”
Three DNA samples collected from that woman matched John Enochs. That case, authorities say, prompted another alleged victim to come forward saying that Enochs had sexually assaulted her in 2013. A police report obtained by I-Team 8 shows the woman and her friends had consumed shots of fireball whiskey before meeting up with Enochs. The victim told authorities that she had no recollection of the events afterwards but was told by friends that she and Enochs were having sex at her sorority house.
In a statement to I-Team 8, prosecutor Miller said that there were evidence problems with both cases.
In the older case, the complaining witness had no specific recollection of the events; the few witnesses could not recall important details due to the passage of time and the consumption of alcohol; and the complaining witness’s decision to prosecute came two years after the event which severely hindered the investigation. There were also photographs that contradicted the assertion that the complaining witness was incapable of engaging in consensual activity shortly before the alleged assault. This is important because the complaint was that she was ‘unaware’ that sex was occurring due her consumption of alcohol. Indiana law has a provision in the rape statute that makes this charge available to prosecutors.
The more recent case had similar evidentiary problems. In that case there is video evidence of activities of the complaining witness, before and after the alleged assault, which does not support the assertion of forcible rape, which was the charge in this instance. There is also DNA evidence that is problematic, and made it impossible for us to prove that the defendant was the cause of her injury.
Enochs’ attorney, Katherine Liell, told 24 Hour News 8’s Jeff Wagner that “John Enochs never should have been charged with rape to begin with. The prosecutor’s office and the court was misled by the lead detective.”
Liell alleges that the officer omitted “critical facts” in the probable cause affidavit that should never have led to Enochs’ arrest. Specifically, she alleges that there were “DNA matches” of two other men found on the victim.
“If something happened to her, it may very well have. The lead detective did not pursue it,” Liell told Wagner. “We had to find the evidence. We should be able to rely on the police officers, but this case, somebody needs to be held accountable and it needs to be that detective,” Liell said.
A message left for the detective who handled the case was not immediately returned.
IU released a statement, reading:
Indiana University is aware of the public attention over the court’s adjudication involving John Enochs, who is no longer a student at the university nor a graduate of IU, and has received a number of inquiries requesting comment on the case.
As result of the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), designed to protect the educational records of students, Indiana University is not able to publicly comment on individual student misconduct cases, including the final disposition of those cases. Additionally, it would be inappropriate for the university to comment on the outcome of a criminal judicial proceeding to which it is not a party.
As it relates to sexual misconduct, however, the university continues to utilize robust processes that are designed to support victims, while at the same time affording due process to those accused of misconduct. In instances where a student is found responsible for committing an act of sexual violence, the penalty is suspension or expulsion.
Additionally, the university regularly engages in a broad range of educational communication and programming to students, faculty and staff regarding sexual assault. The university’s goals are both to prevent sexual assault whenever possible and to support the victims to the fullest extent possible.
For more information on the university’s programs and policies related to sexual misconduct go to www.stopsexualviolence.iu.edu.
