Debate on bill to prevent campus sexual assault turns to rights of accused

Article here. Excerpt:

'In the wake of a statewide sexual assault crisis on university campuses, Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, filed a bill Jan. 23 to penalize staff and student leaders who do not report incidents of campus sexual assault. The Senate State Affairs Committee debated the proposed bill Thursday.
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Without reporting the assault, a university employee could face a Class B misdemeanor or a Class A misdemeanor if it is shown the individual intended to conceal the incident should the bill become law.

Class B misdemeanors are punishable by up to a $2,000 fine or 180 days in jail and Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to a $4,000 fine or one year in jail.

Students would face expulsion should the bill become law.
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Debate took an unexpected turn, however, when Sen. Brian Birdwell, R-Granbury, started questioning Huffman on what would happen should someone report an incident based on a rumor or hearsay.

“If we could only report rapes based on eyewitnesses, then only half of the rapes in the country would be prosecuted,” Huffman said.

The Title IX coordinator at UT clarified that during her office’s investigation process, she explores third-party reports as well.

Birdwell continued on by saying he was concerned that the accuser’s identity would be confidential and those accused might not be able to face their accuser.

“I am profoundly concerned with the rights of the accused,” Birdwell said.

Huffman agreed saying she, too, was concerned about those rights, but no part of her bill would affect the accuser.'