By Caitlin Schmidt and Haille Saal | Arizona Daily Star
Federal suit against UA yields findings
University of Arizona police investigated 16 student-athletes and athletic department employees for sexual assault or dating violence over a six-year span beginning in 2012, according to a document produced in court by the school’s attorney.
The document is part of the discovery process in one of two federal Title IX lawsuits levied against the UA. School officials are accused of mishandling reports that former football player Orlando Bradford was abusing women. Tucson police arrested Bradford in September 2016 and charged him with more than a dozen domestic-violence-related offenses. He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of aggravated assault and is serving a five-year prison sentence.
One of Bradford’s victims filed a lawsuit against the UA a year ago, saying the school knew about his violent behavior and failed to take appropriate action to protect other students. It cited a campus police report from April 2016, when another woman reported abuse by Bradford to campus police and an athletic department official. Bradford wasn’t charged with a crime in connection with the complaint. He soon moved into a house off campus with other members of the football team. Bradford was arrested five months later after two other women said he repeatedly beat and choked them while his roommates watched.
