2 Minnesota Colleges Sued Over Sex Assault Allegations

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (AP) — A woman who says she was sexually assaulted is suing Carleton College.

The woman filed the federal lawsuit against the private college Monday.

The lawsuit alleges the woman was raped in Goodhue Hall as a freshman in September 2011.

The suit contends Carleton did not follow its own procedure when investigating the alleged assault, and that the other student was never expelled or suspended.

The woman says she was raped again in 2013, this time in Watson Hall by a different student. The woman's attorney, Barbara Berens, tells KARE-TV that instead of listening to the woman, school officials told her to take a leave of absence.

A Carleton spokesman says the college does not comment on pending litigation. But the Northfield school says it does not tolerate any sexual misconduct.

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A student is suing a private Catholic university in St. Paul over its handling of a sexual assault allegation.

The student wasn't criminally charged in the incident, but the University of St. Thomas suspended him for more than a year after it launched its own investigation.

The Star Tribune reports that the case illustrates the difficulty for colleges and universities that find themselves criticized in such cases for either going too easy on alleged perpetrators or trampling their rights.

A federal lawsuit filed Friday alleges that St. Thomas imposed an unfair and illegal disciplinary process against the student. The university denies the allegations and claims that its investigations are thorough and impartial.

St. Thomas filed an emergency motion Monday to delete and seal some of the student's allegations.