PULLMAN, Wash – Whitman County prosecutors have charged a WSU student with raping and assaulting a fellow student he met at a fraternity party last fall.
Court documents say the assault happened on August 24, 2023.
The young woman told police she was drinking at several parties that night. At one of the parties, which she says was at the Sigma Nu fraternity, she says a man grabbed her and told her she was going to get him in trouble.
She told police she didn’t know the man, but that he was encouraging her to drink more.
The woman told police the man, later identified as Jayce Carnahan, took her to his house and into his room. There, she told police, Carnahan sexually assaulted her and choked her until she couldn’t breathe.
The police report says the woman, identified in court documents only as Jane Doe, felt trapped and helpless. She said she did not consent to sex.
When she reported the incident to police, Doe showed the officers photos of bruising on her body.
After coming forward to police and also completing a sexual assault exam at Pullman Regional Hospital, Doe searched through Sigma Nu’s Instagram and identified Carnahan.
Police say Carnahan provided a DNA sample.
Police wrote in the report that Doe suffered significant trauma related to the incident and left WSU.
The Whitman County prosecutor charged Carnahan in July with second-degree assault and two counts of third-degree rape.
Carnahan was scheduled to be arraigned last week, but did not show up.
Pullman Radio News reports that Carnahan now lives in Sumner, Washington and was not aware of the case against him.
He’s scheduled to be back in court Friday.
COPYRIGHT 2024 BY KXLY. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. THIS MATERIAL MAY NOT BE PUBLISHED, BROADCAST, REWRITTEN OR REDISTRIBUTED.
