Horror as fraternity leader, 22, 'fondled and forced oral sex on at least 11 male students while they were sleeping'... and the university NEVER reported it to police

Accusations: Nathan Cochran, 22, has been accused of sexual abuse by 11 fellow Oklahoma State students

A 22-year-old fraternity leader at Oklahoma State University has been accused of sexually assaulting at least 11 male students while they were sleeping.



Nathan Cochran, a junior at Oklahoma State, fondled one student and then attempted to force him to perform oral sex while he was sleeping, police say. Another student reported that he woke up and discovered that Cochran had thrust his hand down his shorts, according to criminal charges.



Investigators in Stillwater, Oklahoma, have identified 11 victims, but believe he abused many more students, all of them young men, who are too ashamed to come forward, police tell MailOnline.

Despite the pattern of sexual abuse that dates back at least a year, Oklahoma State officials never reported the alleged crimes to police and instead suspended Cochran from the university for three years. He was allowed to finish out the semester. Officials claim student privacy laws prevented them from disclosing the allegations to law enforcement.

Administrators say that despite five students coming forward claiming they were sexually abused, the university never beloved Cochran was a risk to campus safety.



Oklahoma State's handling of the sex assault allegations 'stunned' a local police captain and drew comparisons to the Penn State abuse scandal, where university officials covered up years of child molesting by a former coach.



'It definitely makes you slap your head and say, "Have we learned nothing from Penn State?" Frank LoMonte, the executive director of the Student Press Law Center, told MailOnline.



Cochran was a member of the FarmHouse fraternity and the secretary of Oklahoma State's Interfraternity Council, which governs all fraternities and sororities on campus.

He was arrested on Wednesday on three counts of sexual battery.



'Serial sex assault': Many of the 11 confirmed victims came from FarmHouse, which is off the Oklahoma State campus. Cochran was a member of the fraternity

One of Cochran's accusers said he went to sleep on November 3, 2011, and woke up with Cochran fondling him. The student said he pretended to be asleep in the hopes that Cochran would stop - but he didn't, according to court documents.



Instead, Cochran rubbed his genitals in the student's face and tried to force him to perform oral sex. Cochran then performed oral sex on the student and continued to fondle him, prosecutors allege.



On August 15, prosecutors say, a second student awoke in his dorm room on campus to find Cochran fondling him in his shorts. The student said he got up and went to the bathroom when he realized what was happening.



Later, Cochran sent the student text messages pleading with him 'not to ruin his life' by reporting what happened. Cochran claimed he was 'blackout drunk' and said he wasn't gay and had a girlfriend.



Stillwater police have taken statements from four additional victims since they began their investigation, police Captain Randy Dickerson told MailOnline.



The university has said five different students came forward to report the abuse to Oklahoma State administrators - bringing the total to 11 students who claim to have been abused by Cochran.



Capt Dickerson said investigators have information that 'quite a few more' young men were abused by Cochran, but they refused to speak with police because they are too ashamed to come forward.



'Sex crimes in and of themselves have a low disclosure rate,' he said. 'In a male-on-male crime such as this, that is reduced even more.'



'Coverup': Oklahoma State University officials chose to handle the investigation internally an never notified police - leading to an accusation that the university is hiding something

'Not guilty': Cochran has denied that he sexually assaulted his fellow students and pleaded not guilty in court

Cochran has denied the accusations and pleaded not guilty at a court hearing on Thursday.



The university was first notified of the allegations on November 7 when the president of the FarmHouse fraternity asked university officials about reporting sexual assault.



By between November 9 and 28, five students - all of them male - came forward to report that Cochran had sexually assaulted them.



Oklahoma State University Vice President Gary Clark, who is in charge of student affairs, was present when the students came forward, but never reported any of the allegations to police.



University spokesman Gary Shutt told MailOnline that none of the students wanted to go to law enforcement. He claims the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) prevented officials from calling police themselves.



Captain Dickerson said he was 'stunned' that the university never came to his department with the sex abuse allegations. The Oklahoma State University Police Department on campus was never notified, either.



Capt Dickerson only discovered the abuse allegations when a reporter with the student newspaper the Daily O'Collegian, repeatedly called him for comment after hearing rumors of the sex abuse.



When Capt Dickerson reached out to his own sources on campus, they confirmed that the student reporter's information was correct.



Capt Dickerson launched a criminal investigation the next day - December 7. More victims from the FarmHouse fraternity came forward and gave Cochran's name as the alleged attacker.



'It’s a horrific deal, it’s a tragic situation, and I just think the university should have notified police,' he said.

Mr LoMonte, an attorney who frequently handles FERPA legislation said Oklahoma State's interpretation of the law and its refusal to notify police is both legally wrong and troubling.



FERPA is meant to protect students and the privacy protections in the law have clear exceptions for any time when public safety is a risk.

