Federal judge sets tentative trial date in Allegheny College rape case

Mar. 2—A federal judge tentatively has set September as the start of a civil trial in U.S. District Court in Erie stemming from an on-campus rape of an Allegheny College student in her dorm room more than three years ago.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Susan Paradise Baxter set the week of Sept. 18 for the civil lawsuit filed by the former Allegheny student who was raped inside her Ravine-Narvik room by an armed man.

The woman, only identified as Jane Doe in court documents, filed a civil suit against the college in July 2020 in U.S. District Court in Erie.

The woman's lawsuit claims Allegheny was both negligent and reckless in providing on-campus housing and security to its students including Doe.

The suit alleges the college had inadequate security at Ravine-Narvik, including a malfunctioning key card system and a lack of both exterior and interior building cameras.

The suit alleges Allegheny's crime and fire logs reported multiple forcible sex offenses at that dorm from 2016 to 2019, as well as multiple reports of suspicious people and trespassers on campus from 2016 to 2019.

Montelle Brown, 30, is serving a 13- to 40-year state prison sentence, to be followed by 12 months of probation, for the crime.

The sentence was handed down by Crawford County Court of Common Pleas in February 2022 after Brown pleaded guilty in November 2021 to two counts of rape.

Brown admitted to attacking the 19-year-old student at gunpoint in her dorm room in the early-morning hours of Dec. 10, 2019.

When entering his guilty pleas, Brown said no one had let him in the dormitory and he knew he was not permitted inside the building. Brown said he was able to enter because one of its exterior doors was propped open with a rock.

Baxter set the tentative trial date following a brief telephone status conference on the case that Baxter held with attorneys for the woman and the college.

However, several depositions still are to be scheduled by the attorneys as part of pretrial discovery.

Baxter also ordered that if attorneys wish to pursue judicial mediation before a May 5 deadline for any motions for summary judgment, they are to contact the court.

A deposition is a formal out-of-court question-and-answer session of a witness believed to have knowledge of facts of the case. The sworn testimony of witnesses given at a deposition may later be used in court.

Discovery is the formal process of exchanging information about witnesses and evidence each side may present at trial.

A motion for summary judgment asks the court to issue summary judgment on at least one claim of a civil suit. If the motion is granted, a decision is made on the claims involved without holding a trial.

Keith Gushard can be reached at (814) 724-6370 or by email at kgushard@meadvilletribune.com.