University of Tennessee wide receiver Drae Bowles during a workout at Haslam Field, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2013. (Amy Smotherman Burgess/News Sentinel)

By Dustin Dopirak of the Knoxville News Sentinel

Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect that former Tennessee football player Drae Bowles was on the witness list of the grand jury that indicted A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams.

A federal lawsuit alleges that Tennessee football players twice assaulted wide receiver Drae Bowles for assisting the woman who accused linebacker A.J. Johnson and defensive back Michael Williams of rape in November 2014.

Neither the Knoxville Police Department nor the University of Tennessee Police Department has a specific report of the incident, however.

The lawsuit, filed in Nashville on Tuesday by six unnamed UT female students including five alleged rape victims, charges that the University of Tennessee violated Title IX and other federal laws by “deliberately indifferent” actions before and after the alleged rapes. Four of the rapes in question, including the case involving Johnson and Williams, were allegedly committed by Tennessee athletes.

The lawsuit also charges that UT created a “hostile sexual environment” through deliberate indifference, and that UT officials, including Chancellor Jimmy Cheek, athletic director Dave Hart and UT football coach Butch Jones, failed to address that environment.

Williams and Johnson, who were immediately suspended when they were accused, were both eventually charged with rape and are facing separate trials in June and July, respectively. Bowles, who transferred to Chattanooga after the 2014 season, has received a subpoena to testify.

The lawsuit cites police interviews and a Knoxville Police Department incident report as evidence of the assaults. However, spokespersons for the Knoxville Police Department and the University of Tennessee Police Department both said Wednesday that they have no incident report for an assault on Bowles.

David Randolph Smith, the Nashville attorney representing the plaintiffs, said Wednesday that the police interviews were part of the investigation into allegations against Williams and Johnson.

KPD spokesman Darrell DeBusk added that any interviews conducted in the Williams and Johnson case are not publicly available because the case is ongoing.

When asked for specific comment Tuesday night on the alleged assaults of Bowles, UT spokeswoman Margie Nichols and athletic department spokesman Ryan Robinson referred to the statement released earlier Tuesday by legal counsel Bill Ramsey. That statement said, in part, “any assertion that we do not take sexual assault seriously enough is simply not true. To claim that we have allowed a culture to exist contrary to our institutional commitment to providing a safe environment for our students or that we do not support those who report sexual assault is just false.”

Attempts to reach Bowles through a Chattanooga athletic department spokesperson on Tuesday night were unsuccessful.

‘FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS'

The “factual allegations” section of the lawsuit claims that Bowles had taken the alleged victim, a plaintiff in the lawsuit referred to as Jane Doe IV, to the hospital the night of her assault and supported her decision to report the incident to the authorities. It claims that the fifth plaintiff in the case, who is referred to as Jane Doe V and the only plaintiff who was not an alleged rape victim, witnessed several football players “jumping” Bowles on Nov. 17, 2014, the day after the alleged rape occurred.

The lawsuit says that Jane Doe IV later understood that “athletic coaches were present” during that altercation. It also says Jane Doe IV learned that Bowles was assaulted a second time by the same players in a team facility.

The lawsuit claims that former linebacker Curt Maggitt “admitted” the second assault in interviews with police, but doesn’t specify whether or not Maggitt was part of the assault. It says that Williams said in an interview with police on Nov. 26 that former defensive back Geraldo Orta “had told Williams that the football team had ‘a hit’ out on Drae Bowles.”

The lawsuit claims that Orta told police that he felt “Bowles had betrayed the team and that where he (Orta) came from, people got shot for doing what Bowles did.” It also said Orta told police that he had gotten “in Bowles’ face” and said “some threatening things” at Smokey’s Cafe, the athletic dining facility. It also said that Orta told police Maggitt confronted Bowles in the team locker room in an incident separate from the assault.

Jane Doe IV, also a Tennessee student athlete, learned of the first assault on Bowles while she was in a meeting with Tennessee executive senior associate athletics director Jon Gilbert, senior associate athletics director Mike Ward and her varsity team’s head coach, the lawsuit said. She informed them of the assault and was told they would look into it. The lawsuit said Jane Doe IV was never told of any action taken against the players involved.

Bowles was on the witness list for the grand jury that indicted Johnson and Williams. He told the News Sentinel in an interview on Feb. 13, 2015, that he had given the alleged victim a ride home from the party at which the rape allegedly occurred, but that she did not mention that she had been raped. He also denied rumors that he had been assaulted.

Bowles missed several practices the week of the alleged rape. Then-Tennessee spokesman Jimmy Stanton said at the time that Bowles missed practices for academic reasons, and Bowles said the same in the February interview. Bowles said he had decided to transfer early in the season.

'HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT'

The allegations of an assault against Bowles are part of the plaintiff’s argument that Tennessee has created a "hostile sexual environment." The factual allegations included detailed explanations of the alleged sexual assaults suffered by five of the plaintiffs and the processes that followed when they reported their cases to university authorities.

Williams and Johnson were two of five current or former Tennessee athletes who were accused of sexual assault by one of the plaintiffs. The others are former men’s basketball player Yemi Makanjuola, former defensive back Riyahd Jones and a current football player who is referred to as John Doe I in the lawsuit because he has never been publicly named. Another UT student, known as John Doe II, is accused of rape in the lawsuit. He is included because football players allegedly provided the alcohol at the party he and his accuser, referred to as Jane Doe III, attended before the alleged rape.

Along with the plaintiffs’ stories, the lawsuit also includes allegations of misconduct by Tennessee athletes going back to a charge of rape against football player Nilo Sylvan in 1995. It also includes an allegation against quarterback Peyton Manning, who was accused of “sitting on the face” of a female athletic trainer in 1996. That incident led to a lawsuit that was settled with Jamie Whited in 1997.

The lawsuit includes all recent charges of misconduct against football players, including but not limited to sexual and domestic assault allegations. It also cites the Nov. 9, 2014, visit by rapper Lil’ Jon to the Tennessee football facility as “enhancement of a hostile sexual environment,” saying Lil’ Jon “has been associated with sexual violence and rape culture” for more than a decade.

Related coverage:

Also in lawsuit against UT: Peyton Manning, Lil’ Jon (Feb. 10, 2016)

A closer look at former UT athletes linked in lawsuit (Feb. 10, 2016)

Lawsuit: UT football players assaulted Drae Bowles for helping rape victim (Feb. 9, 2016)

Lawsuit alleges University of Tennessee has 'hostile sexual environment' (Feb. 9, 2016)

Former star UT linebacker, ex-teammate appeal social media ruling (Jan. 11, 2016)

UT says 2 federal Title IX complaints are related (Jan. 6, 2016)

Judge clears way for emergency appeal by Johnson, Williams in UT rape case (Dec. 15, 2015)

John Adams: Photo of A.J. Johnson on field before UT game raises questions (Dec. 4, 2015)

Judge reverses ruling, denies ex-UT football players access to social media in rape case (Nov. 4, 2015)

Defense claims accuser in UT rape case hiding evidence (Oct. 28, 2015)

Rape trials of former UT football players delayed (Aug. 25, 2015)

Jurors' beliefs to be questioned in UT rape case (July 31, 2015)

Former UT linebacker A.J. Johnson's defense in rape case goes on offense (July 23, 2015)

UT has ‘moved on' from suspended Michael Williams (June 1, 2015)

'No winners ... only losers': Anatomy of a UT sexual assault report (March 23, 2015)

A.J. Johnson surrenders on aggravated rape charge (Feb. 17, 2015)

Former Vol Drae Bowles gave alleged rape victim ride home (Feb. 13, 2015)

Attorneys: A.J. Johnson, Michael Williams indicted in UT rape case (Feb. 13, 2015)

DA: Grand jury to hear UT rape case (Feb. 10, 2015)

Vols WR Bowles transferring to Chattanooga (Jan. 4, 2015)

Student accuses UT football players Johnson, Williams of rape (Nov. 19, 2014)

UT: Johnson and Williams suspended from team pending rape investigation (Nov. 17, 2014)