A woman who said she was sexually assaulted on Oct. 6 at Furman University and another woman who was with her that day were suspended from Bob Jones University for lying on overnight passes and consuming alcohol, both a violation of school rules, according to a SLED investigative file released Friday, March 13.

The reasons for the suspensions, which came the same day the allegations were made, were detailed in the State Law Enforcement Division report that was released to The Greenville News in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

A Furman football player who the woman accused of assault was not charged and is no longer enrolled at Furman as of the start of the spring semester, according to a university spokesman. Furman declined to comment on the reason the student is no longer enrolled, citing federal laws that protect student privacy.

The SLED reports also did not indicate why the Furman student no longer is enrolled.

SLED has closed the case.

The documents were released the same week Bob Jones expressed regret regarding the way it handled sexual assault allegations made by a former student in 2005.

Throughout the investigation, both Bob Jones students, whose names were redacted from the report, expressed more concern about disciplinary action from their school than the investigation itself, the SLED documents show.

When they expressed reluctance to go to the hospital because of those concerns, the women were told by Furman Police they could go "to jail or the hospital," they said, according to the SLED files.

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A late night gathering at Furman University

The heavily redacted SLED documents, formed from multiple interviews with the two Bob Jones students, several Furman football players who were at the dorm that night, Furman police officers and other students, provide on outline of the incident.

The two women arrived at the dorm after midnight on Oct. 6 and drank alcohol with one of the players, according to the file.

One of the Bob Jones students and a Furman football player had previously met through social media, the SLED documents stated, and she left campus with her friend to meet him at his dorm that night. Both Bob Jones students became heavily intoxicated while at the dorm, according to the SLED file.

The allegations stem from a period when the football player and one of the women were inside the football player’s room alone, the documents state. The woman had little memory of the encounter, according to SLED reports.

The statements provided by the woman and football player in the investigative file changed as the investigation went on.

The football player initially told SLED investigators did not have sexual contact with the woman that night. But three days later, he changed his statement to say they had consensual sex, according to interview notes.

The Bob Jones student initially denied the football player assaulted her, according to the SLED documents, but later told SLED investigators she could not remember if he had or not.

In initial interviews with Furman police documented in the SLED file, both women were adamant that they had not been assaulted. Officers noted the two women seemed to be intoxicated, "visibly upset," and were concerned "they would be expelled from Bob Jones University."

The police called an ambulance to have them taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital because they were drinking underage and to have a sexual assault examination done, according to the SLED file.

Furman spokesman Clinton Colmenares said in a statement that the Furman officers said they would take the two women into custody to ensure their health and safety after they refused to get in the ambulance.

The women never went inside the hospital when they got out of the ambulance, according to the SLED file, and instead got a ride from Greenville Memorial to a friend’s house where they spent the night.

During an interview with law enforcement in an administrator's office on the Bob Jones campus the day of the incident, the woman said she could not remember if she had been assaulted or not and had firmly denied she had been assaulted because she was "afraid she would get in trouble," according to the SLED report.

Bob Jones Chief of Staff Randy Page said the university was aware of the ongoing SLED investigation but did not take it into consideration when making a decision to discipline the students.

Page said the school has a student care office on campus where students are protected from disciplinary action while reporting sexual assault. Page said he could not comment on this case specifically because of student privacy laws, but the SLED file does not indicate either student involved went to the care office.

SC legislator proposes amnesty for students who report sexual assault on campus

State Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell, D-Lancaster, said she was disturbed to learn the details of the case.

That the Bob Jones students expressed reluctance to cooperate with police for fear of being expelled from school, that Furman police gave them a choice to go to "jail or the hospital," and Bob Jones' decision to discipline a possible victim and witness before the investigation was closed are all cause for concern, Norrell said.

"I think it's absolutely unconscionable because that causes young people to be very much afraid to report sexual assault," she said."We should make it easier for them to report. We should encourage them to report."

Norrell, a Furman alumna, filed a bill at the Statehouse in Feb. 2019 that would require colleges to give students amnesty from disciplinary action when disclosing possible sexual assaults.

"I think every school should have a policy where they forgive those violations if someone is willing to report the assault," she said. "Because otherwise, they're just not going to report."

Conor Hughes is a public safety reporter with The Greenville News. Contact him via email at chughes@gannett.com or on Twitter @ConorJHughes.