The Indiana University sexual misconduct investigator who was accused last month of sexual assault has resigned.
Jason Casares, Indiana University-Bloomington’s Title IX coordinator who is in charge of investigating student claims of sexual assault, was accused of sexual assault earlier this month by a colleague. That colleague accused him of taking advantage of her when she had had too much to drink. Casares was also the president-elect of the Association for Student Conduct Administration, a group that trains college administrators how to handle sexual assault accusations.
An independent investigation ordered by ASCA found Casares not responsible for sexually assaulting fellow ASCA board member Jill Creighton, who had been elected president of the group for the 2016-2017 term.
Despite the finding, Casares’ reputation has been destroyed. How could anyone making a sexual assault accusation want to confide in someone who had himself been accused of sexual assault?
IU had launched its own investigation into Creighton’s claims against Casares, but didn’t tell media outlets whether the investigation had concluded. Casares was also being investigated by local police in Texas, where the alleged incident occurred.
Creighton wrote a lengthy letter in early February accusing Casares of taking advantage of her when she had “had too much to drink.”
“I also could not stand the hypocrisy of Jason parading his expertise on Title IX, knowing how he had behaved with me,” Creighton wrote.
Creighton initiated ASCA impeachment proceedings against Casares and lobbied the group to cancel his upcoming presentations on investigating sexual assault.
Casares received more due process than he and his colleagues lobby for when it comes to students accused of sexual assault. While it would be easy to point and laugh like the “Simpson”‘s character Nelson Muntz, one has to recognize that Casares just went through what hundreds of colleges students have experienced.
If the sex was consensual but Creighton merely regretted it, Casares has had his reputation demolished. If Creighton is telling the truth, then those supposedly on the right side of the sexual assault debate are just as capable of committing sexual assault as the students they claim do so.
Based on the type of investigations Casares advocates for, it’s easy to imagine that IU would have found him responsible even if ASCA and the police (who are still investigating) found him innocent. Now Casares can’t advocate for accused students, if he was indeed falsely accused and now recognizes the danger of what his group advocates. And, again, if he was responsible, then here’s a man who had been counseling numerous sexual assault accusers while not living up to his own expectations.
It’s a rough day for Title IX investigators, that’s for sure.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
