Just when he thought his nightmare was over, he soon found out that it has only just begun. Former Florida State quarterback and projected first round draft pick Jameis Winston was accused of raping a woman in 2012. That woman was unidentified until now.
In a documentary titled, “The Hunting Ground”, Erica Kinsman gives a first-person testimony of her account of the story where she claims that Winston raped her. The movie features numerous testimonies of people claiming to be victims of sexual assault on college campuses. “The Hunting Ground”, in theaters on March 20 and on CNN later this year, indicts a wide range of institutions for their lax punishments of reported rapists including Notre Dame, the University of Virginia, Swathmore College, Stanford University, and others.
In the documentary, director Kirby Dick investigates the systematic silencing of sexual assault victims. Winston was never charged with the assault, and in December 2014 he was also cleared of violating the school’s code of conduct. Earlier this month, Kinsman filed a federal civil lawsuit against FSU, arguing that she became subject to a sexually hostile environment and that “FSU’s responses to the harassment were clearly unreasonable.”
The movie airs just a little over a month before the 2015 NFL draft, which will be held in Chicago for the first time since 1964. This movie could create a wildfire for Winston if Kinsman’s testimony is strong and moving. In most mock drafts Winston is expected to be the first pick going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This may or may not hurt his draft stock, but we must believe that Winston is innocent until proven guilty. Winston’s roommate and female friend gave this statement in light of the accused rape : “The only thing he is guilty of is sleeping with a crazy a** cleat chaser who got mad, because he wouldn’t leave his girlfriend for her. They hooked up that night (as they had other nights) only this time, Jameis Winston’s girlfriend was coming into town. So he couldn’t stay. Things got heated, and she started basically beating the crap out of him. So naturally, he tried tried to restrain her.”
