A Fordham University alumnus filed a lawsuit against the school on Monday, alleging that the institution failed to protect him from a sexual abuser more than a decade ago.
Francis “Frank” Austin, a former Fordham University Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) student, alleges that his sophomore year roommate Patrick Sweeney violently raped him in February 2011 in his Rose Hill dorm in the Fordham section of the Bronx after he reported numerous threats to the university that preceded the attack. Austin reported the alleged rape the following year to two different professors, who tried to prevent him from reporting the incident more broadly, according to the lawsuit. The same student then allegedly sexually assaulted Austin again in May 2012.
Austin, now 32, first sued the university in 2021, but the case was dismissed because the statute of limitations had run out. Thanks to the New York State Adult Survivors Act (ASA), Austin has another chance to seek justice. The ASA, which was signed into law in May 2022, opened a year-long window to take civil action starting in November 2022 for adult victims of sexual crimes whose statutes of limitations have expired.
Austin, who graduated from Fordham in 2013, is being represented by attorneys Lesley Brovner and Mark Peters, of Manhattan-based law firm Peters Brovner LLP.
“Everyone talks about how great college can be, but my sophomore year was the worst year of my life,” Austin said on Monday, his voice quivering at a Zoom press conference.
Austin said the aftermath of the assaults “destroyed” his life, throwing him into a deep depression and causing him to have suicidal ideations. He has also suffered from anorexia, alcohol abuse, difficulties with relationships and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, according to the lawsuit.
Leading up to the alleged 2011 rape and subsequent sexual assault, Austin faced repeated threats of rape, assault and murder from Sweeney, who was moved out of his dormhere
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