The parents of a Northbrook teenager who killed herself a week after accusing a University of Notre Dame football player of sexually attacking her say they feel betrayed by the school they love and that several generations of their family have attended.
Speaking publicly for the first time since their daughter’s Sept. 10 death, Tom and Mary Seeberg suggest that the campus police conducted a superficial investigation of their daughter’s allegations. They question why, according to a timeline they received from the university, it took police two weeks to interview the player — even after Elizabeth “Lizzy” Seeberg, 19, gave detailed statements and reported receiving a text message warning her about “messing with” the storied football program.
Concerned that the university’s handling of reported sex crimes poses a public safety threat to women at Notre Dame and neighboring St. Mary’s College, where their daughter was a freshman, the Seebergs decided to break their three-month silence. They say Notre Dame, a university named after the Virgin Mary, should be a leader in handling alleged crimes against women.
“We are parents fighting for our daughter. We’re fighting for our sisters, our nieces and our granddaughters,” Tom Seeberg said. “If not at Our Lady’s university, then where? Where in the world would you fight for women? Where in the world would you fight for a cause like this?”
via Seeberg parents feel betrayed by Notre Dame sex attack investigation - chicagotribune.com.
I would expect, and hope, in all contended circumstances like this that the District Attorneys and Attorney Generals Office along with the State Police would collaborate in this investigation. A cursory glance by the “campus police” is both insufficient and wholly disrespect the victim(s) of sexual assault. IF there is found to be any sort of cover up or blatant inactivity in pursuing the case I would expect that the investigating “officers,” football coaches, the AD, and anyone else with involvement be fired and criminal charges sought.
