Fifteen months after a University of Iowa student told investigators she had been sexually assaulted by a pair of fraternity brothers, who then shared video and pictures of the attack with chapter members and the wider public, Iowa City police have arrested one of the accused men.
Carson Douglas Steffen, 20, of North Liberty, was arrested Wednesday on suspicion of first-degree harassment, an aggravated misdemeanor, which generally is punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine in the thousands.
He wasn’t arrested on accusations he sexually assaulted UI student Makena Solberg in the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity — or FIJI — on Sept. 4-5, 2020, as she alleged in a lawsuit filed in October. Steffen’s charge mentions only the accusation he, around 3:30 a.m. Sept. 5, 2020, sent “a photo to multiple persons on Snapchat” of the victim “engaged in a sex act with another male.”
“The victim never gave consent to the dissemination of this photo,” according to police, who also filled a no-contact order to keep Steffen away from Solberg.
Although Steffen’s arresting documents mention the other man who Solberg accused of assaulting her, police don’t plan to arrest Jacob Meloan, according to Iowa City police spokesman Lee Hermiston.
“We have concluded our investigation and the case is in the hands of the Johnson County Attorney’s Office,” he said. “We do not anticipate any more charges against Carson Steffen or anyone else in this case.”
Steffen, who’s being held without bond in the Johnson County Jail, on Wednesday obtained top defense attorney Leon Spies as his counsel, court records show.
To questions of why police filed charges against one of the accused and not the other and what changed between last year’s initial report and this week’s arrest, Hermiston said, “While we have concluded our investigation, we cannot speak to the specifics of the case — including evidentiary matters — until the case has been disposed of in the court system.”
Although the alleged assault occurred last fall, news of the lagging police response and absence of charges — aired this fall via social media and a Change.org petition that’s garnered nearly 184,000 signatures — prompted days of protests, including one inciting thousands and extensive damage to the FIJI house.
“The timing of this or any investigation is not driven by public pressure, but by our responsibility to uncover the facts of the case, support the needs of the victim, and address public safety concerns,” Hermiston said. “Each investigation is different, but thorough investigations take time and cannot be rushed just to satisfy the demands of those not involved.”
UI officials have said they can’t publicly discuss disciplinary action involving students.
FIJI officials have said Steffen and Meloan no longer are fraternity members. Although Meloan isn’t listed in the UI student directory, a Carson D. Steffen is listed in the UI directory as a “temporary professional employee” in medicine administration.
‘Consented to the sexual activity’
Just two days before he was booked into jail — the same day police sought a warrant for his arrest — Steffen on Monday responded in court filings to allegations laid out against him in Solberg’s October lawsuit.
In his response, Steffen admits “he engaged in sexual activity” with Solberg but denies it happened “without her consent and while she was in an intoxicated, physically, impaired, and physically vulnerable state of which defendants Steffen and Meloan were aware or should have been aware.”
He denied Solberg’s assertions she became sick while at the fraternity house that evening for “an official and sanctioned Iowa FIJI fraternity event.” And he denied accusations he offered her water and said “she could come into his room for it.”
He rejected accusations Steffen and Meloan “planned and conspired to lure” her into one of their bedrooms to isolate her from a friend who she came with. And denied all her allegations he filmed or photographed the sexual activity without her consent and then shared it with FIJI brothers and the wider public.
If Solberg suffered any of the injuries she purports to have, they were someone else’s fault, according to Steffen’s answer, which goes on to restate that Solberg “consented to the sexual activity with defendant Carson Steffen.”
He also on Monday filed counter claims against Solberg accusing her of defamation for “falsely accusing him of sexual abuse.” By publicly accusing him of a crime, she harmed “his good name, exposed him to public hatred and contempt, and deprived him of the benefit of public confidence,” he wrote.
The “false and defamatory statements and communications” have not only injured his reputation, but limited his future earning capacity and created current and future mental suffering.
“Carson Steffen demands judgment against plaintiff for compensatory damages in an amount deemed fair and just, and punitive damages in an amount that will punish plaintiff and provide future deterrence to others, together with interest and the costs of this action,” according to court documents.
‘No duty’ to protect her
In that Solberg also named the fraternity and its governing bodies as defendants in her lawsuit, FIJI officials too responded this week in court filings — denying they had any role in or control over the alleged situation.
While they admitted to learning either Steffen or Meloan — or both — sent digital images including Solberg “through a group SnapChat,” officials denied the group chat was established for official chapter communications or through official FIJI channels.
They also denied culpability by asserting any offending behavior was caused by people “not related to or under the control of the International Fraternity and for whose conduct the International Fraternity is not liable.”
It further asserted, the governing body has “no duty” to protect Solberg from “negligent, intentional, or criminal actions of
