Report: Accused Florida, FSU players avoid charges more than other schools

If you are a student-athlete at Florida or Florida State who has been accused of doing something illegal, you’re less likely to be charged for it than your counterparts at other major universities. At least, that’s what a lengthy report that was published by ESPN’s Outside the Lines over the weekend has concluded.

According to Paula Lavigne’s research, athletes at Florida State who have been accused of a crime escaped charges 70 percent of the time from 2009 through 2014. The same is true for 56 percent of accused athletes at Florida.

During the five-year timeframe that was studied, Florida was found to have 80 athletes named as suspects in more than 100 crimes in the state. The athletes never faced charges in 56 percent of the cases. In comparison, only 28 percent of accused college-aged males — ones who were not athletes at Florida — in the town of Gainsville escaped without facing charges during that time.

There were 66 men’s basketball and football players named in criminal allegations at Florida State from 2009-2014, which is the second-highest total behind Florida. The accused only faced charges in 30 percent of those cases, whereas 50 percent of college-age men who were accused in Tallahassee were prosecuted.

The Outside the Lines report compared Florida and Florida State to eight other schools — Auburn, Michigan State, Missouri, Notre Dame, Oklahoma State, Oregon State, Texas A&M and Wisconsin.

Florida State associate athletic director Monk Bonasarte was reportedly named in several police reports involving student athletes. A former FSU athletic department employee told TL that Bonasarte is a “fixer” for accused players.

“He is kind of the fixer for football,” the person said. “He knows where the skeletons are buried, but he also helps keep those football players, not out of trouble, but out of paying for the trouble they’ve gotten into.”

The report, which dives into specific cases involving prominent athletes, is worth reading in its entirety. Those of you who are familiar with the Jameis Winston rape accusation may have immediately thought of what the alleged victim said about police a couple of years back. The findings of the report are hardly a shock.

H/T Dr. Saturday