The Tampa Bay Times reports that former Florida State student Erica Kinsman, who says top NFL prospect Jameis Winston raped her in December 2012, has filed a civil suit against him. The suit, filed in Florida’s Ninth Circuit Court district, accuses Winston of sexual battery, assault, false imprisonment, and “intentional infliction of emotional distress arising out of forcible rape.” It also seeks financial damages.
Winston is expected to be picked first overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFL Draft on April 30.
Kinsman reported to Tallahassee, Florida police that she was raped early on the morning of Dec. 7, 2012, and identified Winston as her attacker soon after. Prosecutors ultimately decided not to press charges against him but have said they were hampered by an inadequate, slow police investigation.
Kinsman publicly identified herself in a documentary about college sexual assault called The Hunting Ground, which premiered in January 2015. She’s also filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Florida State did not follow its obligations under Title IX in its handling of the case; the school ruled in December 2014 after a code-of-conduct hearing that not enough evidence existed to punish Winston through its own disciplinary system.
