In a mirror image of the debate over sexual violence against women on college campuses, Reginald Stewart is suing another man, Charles Gibson, and the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity, alleging he was raped while intoxicated.
Stewart, 19 when the incident took place in 2013, attended a rush party hoping to join the fraternity. The lawsuit claims that he was served several drinks by fraternity members, even though they knew he was underage and ever after he had reached a point of inebriation.
Related: Male College Student Bravely Opens Up About Being Raped By Another Guy
According to court documents, Stewart was escorted back to his dorm by Gibson and another frat brother. When he regained consciousness, Gibson was penetrating him anally without his consent, but he was too drunk to fight off the attack.
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Stewart claims he contracted HPV and had to undergo reconstructive surgery to repair damage to his rectum.
Like similar incidents involving male on female rape, this one boils down to a “he said, he said” fight. According to Philly Mag, Gibson doesn’t deny having sex with Stewart that evening, but he claims it was consensual. He also denies giving Stewart HPV, calling the lawsuit “frivolous.” (HPV is an extremely common STD that can lead to anal cancer if not monitored and treated later in life.)
Philly Mag points out that this is not the first time a Phi Kappa Psi fraternity has been the target of sexual assault allegations and hazing allegations. In 2013, a hazing incident at the University of West Virginia resulted in criminal charges and the frat’s suspension.
Stewart seeking $450,000 in damages for the personal injury, assault and battery claims.
Related: Frat Boy Dishes On What It’s Like To Be Gay And Greek
h/t: Uptown Magazine
Rolias
Wow. Rape is never ok but there is so much information that is missing from this story it’s hard to figure out what is what.
James Gutting
Gee, I thought that story was just a tired porn plot
Glücklich
Hasn’t the Greek system’s time passed? Yeah, not all frats are this bad but it seems like no matter how universities absolve themselves of responsibility, frats seem like a huge liability both in terms of litigation and reputation.
rhiggins
The college is incorrect. The incident occurred at the University of Pennsylvania, not Penn State.
Jaime Jonathan Encarnación
That’s my fraternity in the post photo… Uh-oh… What have my guys gotten themselves into now…??
austinalextommy
There is no University of West Virginia. It’s called West Virginia University. Both of my parents are alumni.
Cagnazzo82
Reconstructive surgery on your ass? That… sounds thoroughly disturbing :S
I wonder if the Fraternity members were trying to film one of those Fraternity X videos without his consent?
William Scott
Why do Americans have these groups anyway? All that seems to come out of them is lawsuit after lawsuit…
NoCagada
But I bet the top is “straight”
J Alexander Steel
reconstructive surgery…? if the damage was that extensive why was there no rape kit
Cam
If that guy really did have to have reconstructive surgery on his anus, it seems to be some strong evidence that it wasn’t consensual.
Maria Anna
From the guys I know from uic, I’d say you can’t call those guys brothers…. your chapter was great â?¡ 😉
DonW
Nothing drives the University of Pennsylvania (a private, Ivy League school) battier than being confused with Penn State, a huge state university. It’s kinda funny, really — but Queerty’s shoddy reporting gets to be a drag.
Daveliam
While I feel terrible that a young man was raped, I couldn’t help but breathe of sigh of relief that it wasn’t another PSU sex scandal, just more shoddy and inept ‘reporting’ from this author. PSU and U.Penn are not the same place.
money718
@Cagnazzo82: That was funny.
Glücklich
@William Scott:
Strongly agree. I think the whole system should be abolished. For the most part they’re lawsuits waiting to happen and whatever “fraternity”/future networking or philanthropic opportunities arise can be replicated in ways that don’t involve binge drinking, hazing, assaults, etc. – all of that’ll happen anyway to a less extreme degree in the corporate world where one is at least paid for the trouble.
Abolishing the system would also be a step toward doing away with the insular, good-ol’-boys nature it helps foster out in the real world of corporate recruitment, giving it a semblance of actual meritocracy.
James Grove
Hè probably consented and wanted à relationship and the Guy hè accident wanted nsa sec. So hè is trying to het even
Alan down in Florida
@Cam: It doesn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t consensual. It might just mean that either insufficient lube was used or possibly something other than a penis/sex toy was used.
ait10101
Sounds like rape to me. If you are damaging your partner you have an obligation to stop.
Arcamenel
I hope a thorough investigation is done and if Gibson is found guilty gets no less than 10 years and the frat gets disbanded.
Martin Steele
In theory William it’s about the non blood version of brotherhood
Roby Johnson
Since he was drinking underage, I would not give him pain and suffering, but I would give him his medical bills, because the other dude had no right to touch him. But I would only reward him after he filed a criminal case.
misterhollywood
He deserves the medical bills for sure but not sure about some of the other stuff. It does sound like he experienced a rape.
MacAdvisor
As several people noted above, the details are a little vague here and we are only getting the story from one side, but one part does stand out for me. If Mr. Stewart was drunk — and having two fraternity members “escort” him home does suggest he was unable to get home on his own — then he is simply incapable of giving consent. Thus, if Mr. Gibson agrees Mr. Stewart was drunk and Mr. Gibson also agrees they had sex, by any reasonable definition, Mr. Gibson sexually assaulted Mr. Stewart.
FitchMike26
Mr Gibson didn’t just walk Mr Stewart home…they were college roommates who lived in the same dorm room. There is a lot of information missing from this story.
Also: This happened at the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League school in Philadelphia, NOT at Penn State University, which is 200 miles away.
Arcamenel
The thing about consent is it is continuous. If at any time the victim became unconscious or it became clear he was not involved in the act then there is a definite case for sexual assault.
Clark35
Queerty, this did not happen at Penn State, it happened at the University of Pennsylvania which is in Philadelphia PA, and not in rural central PA.
martinbakman
Fact checking aren’t us.
Jacob23
It’s hilarious reading the anti-frat comments from screeching SJWs. These guys would be more content hanging out with their many female friends, swapping skin care tips and going shopping. lolsmh!
Bottom line: Frats are great venues where males can bond. Yes, there’s some excess here and there, but on the whole it’s overwhelmingly a positive thing. A few years ago when I was still in school I was invited to join and I seriously considered it, but I decided that I couldn’t dedicate the time. Anyway, the main male-on-male problem in frats is hazing but there’s been such a crackdown on that to the point where it is rare. As far as male-on-male rape, I haven’t heard of that ever happening other than in gay porn and possibly in this case, and at this point nothing in this case is proven.
Blackceo
Oh boy. Well lets start with the main thing. Male on male rape happens more than people realize. No there is not a lot of information in this story but there’s a bit too much joking going on about a very serious and under reported issue. I personally know 3 people it happened to at fraternity parties when I was in university and none of them reported it, and with comments Ive seen in this site and others its totally understandable why many dont report.
As for the victim of the alleged rape in terms of a legal standpoint, Penn does manage these fraternity and sorority houses through the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life. In their rules though it clearly states no sale, possession, or distribution of alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. It’s very hard to police this, but the University may have some liability here, however since the alleged rape occurred out of the fraternity house and after the party I would maintain that the bulkmofmthe lawsuit should be against the alleged perpetrator. It will be slippery from a legal standpoint just how much Phi Kappa Psi and Penn are liable for this.
As for this Queerty article, yeah….I mean as someone who grew up in The Philly suburbs, I surely knew the difference between one of the best institutions of higher learning in the WORLD in the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania not being Penn State, and if you are going to report on such things you should as well. Same with the “Univ of West Va” error. Ashame that such a serious story is marred with such pedestrian journalism.
Clark35
@Blackceo: Ashame that such a serious story is marred with such pedestrian journalism.
What do you expect? It’s queerty. They don’t check facts here at all. Penn State is still an excellent university, and ivy league schools are overrated, and not like they once were decades or a century ago.
Joseph Watkins
Sounds hot
Blackceo
@Clark35:
No. Ivy League schools are not overrated. They are idolized. It also depends on discipline. I went to a regular state university for my undergrad, but went to an Ivy for my graduate degree. Because they are idolized, for certain disciplines the name recognition is still a big deal. You also pretty much can’t beat the network of connections you have by attending one of those schools. Doors open up to you that otherwise would not simply because you are an alum of one of the ivies. Now, there are so called “hidden ivies” that are very good institutions that people tend to bypass because they are not part of the ancient 8. Schools like MIT, Univ of Chicago, Stanford, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins Univ, Vanderbilt, Emory, Wesleyan, Vassar, Wellesley, among others. The Ivy League schools tho will always have that status here of being the best of the best, particularly HYP.
Other factors also come into play. Since discrimination is still rampant in the workforce, it was advantageous to me as a gay man of color to go to an Ivy was given my discipline. My dad told me that in secondary school. That was really a no brainer. People see Yale graduate and there is an immediate (albeit not warranted I admit) respect and status given just because of that.
Giancarlo85
@Jacob23: You’re spewing out bullshit again, as you constantly do. I knew several frat boys who said frats were a waste of time in college and only caused their grades to suffer. One had was put on academic probation because he wasted too much time because of a frat. They are useless and don’t offer any sort of bonding. There are other ways to make friends and also to be part of productive groups on campus.
And your constantly bigotry towards other gay men is well noted. Thanks for sharing more of your internalized homophobia. I take you were never even accepted into any frat? You just dream about being around a bunch of straight guys who aren’t attracted to you in the first place.
And if you think these incidents are rare you live in the clouds.
offbeatoh86
He needed “reconstructive surgery to repair damage to his rectum!?” Oh, Gawd!
Juanjo
I do not condone rape at all nor am I a big supporter of the Greek system at universities. That said, from a legal view, there is a lot left unclear in this report. First of all, people drinking at frat parties, to the point of inebriation is all too common a thing. I am seeing nothing here that indicates this man was forced to consume alcohol to excess or that he was drugged. The frat allegedly gave him someone to escort him home which was a member of the frat not an employee. If one of those people committed a crime then unless the frat knew he had a propensity for raping people they are not liable.
The other issue here is the issue of just what actually happened. There were two guys who escorted him back to his room. What does the other one say happened? Additionally if this man received an STD form this act, then a simple test will show if Gibson was previously infected with the disease. If not then the other question is does this individual have an issue with getting intoxicated and engaging in consensual sexual activity he later regrets.
Please not I am not taking a position on this case. I am simply saying there is a lot left out of the facts which would show this was a rape. If it was then the perpetrator should be prosecuted. Of not then this gentleman needs to be prosecuted for filing a false report.
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longpastdue
I am very interested in the fact that whenever an event like this happens having any distant connection to a fraternity everyone suggests shutting down all fraternities. Yet even though the vast majority of sexual assaults and for that matter assaults in have nothing to do with fraternities (in fact I would venture to say that the rates are probably comparable if you were to group any other random sampling in the same numbers) no one ever suggests shutting down all bars, college campuses, apartment complexes, or even breweries that had more to do with the crime than the greek system. People blame every bad event even distantly associated with a fraternity on the greek system calling it a small closed group yet given the size of the greek system in the United States and the rates at which we see these articles (given that every time something like this happens it makes front page news) I would say compared to the sexual assault and assault rates in the general public they actually seem to be safer than most places you might go.
randomguy5516
First, this is the University of Pennsylvania, not Penn State. Secondly, the rape did not occur at a party and neither the victim or rapist were in the fraternity. #Getyourfactsright Bad reporting