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Prosecutors this week filed sexual abuse charges against a Utah State University student accused of raping a classmate on the campus lawn — becoming the fourth USU student to be charged with sexual assault for alleged incidents in 2014 and 2015.
Scott Raymond Simmons, 20, was charged in 1st District Court with first-degree felony rape, along with second-degree felony forcible sexual abuse.
He is accused of raping an 18-year-old woman early one morning in September 2015 after an off-campus fraternity party.
The alleged victim, Alison Berg, reported the incident to campus police several months ago.
"I wanted to move on and pretend like this didn't happen, which is why I didn't report and only told a few people," Berg told The Salt Lake Tribune on Thursday. "I was hoping that if I didn't talk about it, it would just go away."
But Berg said that didn't happen: Her grades dropped, her friendships suffered and she became depressed. But in March 2016, she began receiving help from the school's Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Information (SAAVI) office, and six months ago, she said she decided she didn't want to let the incident control her any longer. In April, she reported the assault to campus police.
"I've seen the impact that other rape survivors can have on making changes," she said. "I've decided to do the same. I want justice and closure for myself, and I want my attacker to pay the price for what he did."
Prosecutors allege Simmons met Berg at the frat party, and they exchanged phone numbers. She went back to her dorm and had drinks with friends, according to charging documents, and then she and Simmons met up at around 2:30 a.m. for a walk.
The two began kissing, and Simmons allegedly tried to take her clothes off. Berg reported to police that she told Simmons she didn't want to do that and that she was drunk, but Simmons continued undressing her and eventually sexually assaulted her, despite her protests.
Berg was scared and said that she didn't fight back because she "knew that he was more powerful than her in that moment," she told police.
Simmons told a campus police officer in May that he encouraged Berg to have sex with him, though he knew she was intoxicated. He "saw an opportunity," he told authorities, and said the sexual contact was "not 100 percent consensual."
Simmons also compared himself to Brock Turner, the former Stanford University student who was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman.
"Both situations were very non-consensual and both included alcohol," Simmons told police, "but the levels were different."
Simmons told police that he "just wants to fix [Berg's] life," and offered to write an apology letter, which he did.
The Tribune generally does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse, but Berg agreed to the use of her name.
USU officials confirmed Thursday that Simmons is currently a USU student. An arrest warrant was issued for the man on Thursday.
Berg is also currently a student, and is interning at the Deseret News. The now-20-year-old woman also writes for USU's student newspaper, and has published several stories about sexual assault, including a piece about how the SAAVI office helped her. She said reporting other women's stories has helped make the process easier for her.
"I'm reminded that I'm not alone," she said, "and that other survivors are reporting and telling their stories."
Simmons is the fourth male student to be charged with alleged sexual assaults in 2014-2015, and the third involving USU fraternities. Former fraternity President Ryan Wray pleaded guilty in 2015 to trying to sexually assault a woman in August 2014 while he was tasked with caring for inebriated women at parties. Jason Relopez, a member of another USU fraternity, was accused of assaulting two women in 2014 and in 2015. He pleaded guilty to charges in 2016.
And a former USU football player, Torrey Green, is accused of sexually assaulting several women while he was a student in Logan between November 2014 and November 2015. He has been charged in seven cases, all of which are pending.
University officials in 2016 created a task force to address sexual violence, according to spokesman Tim Vitale, and have made several changes. Those include bystander intervention training for students, amnesty from drug and alcohol student code violations for students who report or witness sexual violence, and upgraded technologies to make reporting easier. A campus climate survey was also recently completed, according to Vitale, and the data are currently being analyzed.