Louisiana State University found a football player responsible for sexual assault and forcible rape through its Title IX process.
Posted by Behind the Bastards, Checked
- Sources
- 5 support2 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 90%
Behind the BastardsOct 3, 2026
Multiple reports from September and October 2026 say LSU's Title IX office found a football player responsible for sexual assault and forcible rape through its administrative process, based on internal documents. The claim is faithful to the post, and no source contradicts it; the player's punishment was later reduced on appeal, which does not affect the finding.
Our two reads of who says this, and how, disagree, so it counts as the post's own claim.
What was said
… And there's actually another story that you might be hearing less about: um a student at Louisiana State University named Kendall Francis. Basically, Kendall Francis is a student at LSU, a young Black woman. This is from Law Commentary: "LSU found a football player responsible for sexual assault and forcible rape through its Title Nine process, then reduced his one-year suspension on appeal to two years of probation without restrictions, subsequently allowing him back on the LSU football team." So, this finding remained in place. In that case is now under criminal investigation. …
Behind the Bastards · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Supports. ESPN reports, citing documents it reviewed, that LSU found Damien Shanklin responsible for 'forcible rape' and issued a one-year suspension, which an administrative law judge upheld on appeal while reducing the punishment to probation.[2]
Supports. NOLA.com reports, citing documents, that an LSU hearing panel found a football player responsible for forcible rape of a student, while reducing his punishment on appeal.[3]
Supports. WAFB's I-Team reports, based on internal university documents, that LSU's Title IX office determined a sexual assault and forcible rape occurred involving a rostered football player and upheld that finding on appeal.[4]
Supports. The Town Talk reports that an LSU football player was found responsible for sexual assault and forcible rape of an LSU student through the Title IX process.[5]
Supports. The Reveille reports that LSU's Office of Civil Rights and Title IX found the football player responsible for rape, according to internal documents obtained by The Advocate.[6]
Context. NBC News reports the Title IX finding and notes that the district attorney opened a criminal investigation; the 2024 AP settlement article concerns an unrelated earlier lawsuit and does not bear on this finding.[1][7]
Sources
7 sources: 1 fact-checker, 5 not rated, 1 tier 2
- 1LSU settles case involving sexual assault, domestic violence ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: context
- 2Police investigating rape allegation against LSU football ...espn.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 3LSU found a football player raped a student in Title IX hearing, then reduced his punishmentnola.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 4I-TEAM: LSU Title IX office upholds rape finding against athlete, documents showwafb.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 5LSU football player accused of sexual assault after Title IX hearingthetowntalk.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6A criminal investigation has opened into LSU football player for rapelsureveille.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 7LSU student says she was raped by a football player who ...nbcnews.com · tier 2 · cited for: context
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- LSU suspended a student for one year after finding him responsible for rape.True
- Louisiana State University reduced a football player's one-year suspension for sexual assault to two years of disciplinary probation without restrictions on appeal.True
- Kendall Francis filed a formal Title IX complaint against an LSU football player in January 2026.True
- A criminal complaint regarding the sexual assault allegations against an LSU football player was brought to the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney's Office on September 22, 2026.True
- Jane Doe filed a formal Title IX complaint with Cornell University in January 2025.True