Students cleared in William Paterson gang rape sue after being expelled

Two former William Paterson University students who'd been accused of taking part in the gang-rape of a classmate are suing the school — saying it violated their rights by expelling them, even though the charges were later dropped.

A grand jury in January declined to indict any of five 18-year-old men accused of raping a woman in November of last year.

As described by the New Jersey Law Journal, the suit alleges the university's police department brought charges against the five students without investigating the alleged victim's allegation she was restrained and sexually assaulted. The five men were arrested and charged the day after she reported the alleged assault.

Suing are Noah Williams of Camden and Garrett Collick of Paterson, and Collick's mother, Nancy Williams, according to the Law Journal report. They say they were denied due process based on their gender, and denied their civil rights. Nancy Williams also says she suffered emotional harm from seeing her son's rights violated.

According to the suit, as described by the law journal, both Collick and Williams had consensual sexual relationships with the accuser before the incident — including activity in which they both took part, or in which other male students participated. It states the alleged victim sought out the five in November and engaged in sexual acts with them while they watched television in a dorm room.

December, 2014 video by CBS New York, via YouTube, describing charges against five William Paterson students accused at the time of a gang rape. A grand jury later declined to indict the accused/