Sexual Assault on a South Carolina College Campus: Your Rights and How to Sue

If you were sexually assaulted on a college campus in South Carolina, you have rights. Criminal rights. Civil rights. Rights against the person who did it, and in many cases rights against the school.

This post covers what South Carolina law actually says: what counts as sexual assault, how drugs and alcohol affect consent, why no physical force is required, what the Cornell 7 case means, and how victims sue — even when no one was arrested.

Every South Carolina College and University — This Applies to You

It does not matter which campus. Public or private. Four-year university or technical college. If you were sexually assaulted on a South Carolina campus — or at a party, bar, frat house, or off-campus apartment connected to one — the law below applies to you.

Public four-year universities: The Citadel, Clemson University, Coastal Carolina University, College of Charleston, Francis Marion University, Lander University, the Medical University of South Carolina, South Carolina State University, USC Aiken, USC Beaufort, USC Columbia, USC Upstate, and Winthrop University.

USC regional campuses: USC Lancaster, USC Salkehatchie, USC Sumter, and USC Union.

The sixteen technical colleges: Aiken Technical College, Central Carolina Technical College, Denmark Technical College, Florence-Darlington Technical College, Greenville Technical College, Horry-Georgetown Technical College, Midlands Technical College, Northeastern Technical College, Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, Piedmont Technical College, Spartanburg Community College, Technical College of the Lowcountry, Tri-County Technical College, Trident Technical College, Williamsburg Technical College, and York Technical College.

Private colleges and universities: Allen University, Anderson University, Benedict College, Bob Jones University, Charleston School of Law, Charleston Southern University, Claflin University, Clinton College, Coker University, Columbia College, Columbia International University, Converse University, Erskine College, Furman University, Morris College, Newberry College, North Greenville University, Presbyterian College, Sherman College of Chiropractic, Southern Wesleyan University, South University, Spartanburg Methodist College, Voorhees University, and Wofford College.

Also ECPI University, Strayer University, and the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine — each with campuses or a presence in South Carolina.

Was I Raped? What Counts as Sexual Assault in South Carolina

Start with the definition. Under S.C. Code § 16-3-651, "sexual battery" means sexual intercourse or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or any object into the genital or anal openings of another person. It covers far more than what most people picture when they hear the word "rape."

South Carolina grades criminal sexual conduct in three degrees:

• First degree (§ 16-3-652, up to 30 years): sexual battery with aggravated force, or where the attacker drugged you without your consent to make you incapacitated or helpless.
• Second degree (§ 16-3-653, up to 20 years): sexual battery through aggravated coercion — threats, not force.
• Third degree (§ 16-3-654, up to 10 years): sexual battery where the attacker knew or should have known you were mentally incapacitated or physically helpless. No force required at all.

On the civil side — the lawsuit you file, separate from any criminal case — the claims are assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In South Carolina, civil assault happens when someone's conduct puts you in reasonable fear of bodily harm (Gathers v. Harris Teeter, 282 S.C. 220 (Ct. App. 1984)). Battery is the unlawful touching itself. You do not need a physical injury to have a battery claim. Sexual assault is the textbook case for intentional infliction of emotional distress (Ford v. Hutson, 276 S.C. 157 (1981)).

Bottom line: if someone had sexual contact with you without your consent, that is sexual assault under South Carolina law. The labels people argue about — rape, assault, misconduct — do not change that.

I Was Drunk. Was It Still Rape? Too Drunk to Consent in South Carolina

Yes. Being drunk does not equal consent. South Carolina law is explicit.

The statute defines "mentally incapacitated" as being temporarily unable to appraise or control your conduct "whether this condition is produced by illness, defect, the influence of a substance or from some other cause" (§ 16-3-651). Read that again: "the influence of a substance." The law does not distinguish between a drink you chose and a drink someone spiked. If you were so intoxicated you could not understand or control what was happening, you could not consent.

South Carolina treats the two scenarios as different degrees of the same crime:

• Someone slips a drug into your drink without your knowledge and assaults you: first-degree criminal sexual conduct, up to 30 years (§ 16-3-652).
• You drank voluntarily, became incapacitated, and someone had sex with you knowing you were in that condition: third-degree criminal sexual conduct, up to 10 years (§ 16-3-654).

Both are felonies. Both are sexual assault.

This played out at Coastal Carolina University in 2016, when football player Ray Anthony Lewis III was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct for the alleged assault of an 18-year-old woman prosecutors said was incapacitated by drugs or alcohol. The charge was dismissed in 2017. That dismissal proves something important: criminal prosecution of these cases is uncertain. Prosecutors need proof beyond a reasonable doubt, and juries struggle with alcohol cases. A civil lawsuit is a different case with a different burden of proof — and it is often the case that actually delivers justice.

I Think I Was Roofied. What Should I Do?

Date-rape drugs — GHB, ketamine, Rohypnol — have one thing in common: they leave your system fast. Sometimes within 12 to 72 hours. If you think your drink was spiked, time matters more than anything.

Go to an emergency room now. Tell them you believe you were drugged and sexually assaulted. Ask for a toxicology screen and a forensic exam (rape kit). You do not have to decide about pressing charges to get the exam. Do not shower, change clothes, or wash anything first if you can avoid it. Save every text, photo, and message from that night. Write down everything you remember, even fragments.

Under South Carolina law, drugging someone to make them helpless for sexual assault is first-degree criminal sexual conduct — the most serious grade, carrying up to 30 years. And in a civil case, the drugging itself is powerful evidence.

Sexual Assault Without Physical Force — Including at Work

Sexual assault does not require physical force. South Carolina law says so directly.

In State v. Cox (274 S.C. 624 (1980)), the South Carolina Supreme Court explained that "aggravated coercion" covers situations where the victim's consent was lacking — threats, intimidation, and circumstances that make resistance futile. Second-degree criminal sexual conduct (§ 16-3-653) is sexual battery by threat alone. Third-degree (§ 16-3-654) requires zero force when the victim is incapacitated or helpless.

This matters beyond campus. Workplace sexual assault often involves no physical force at all: a supervisor who implies your job depends on compliance, a boss who threatens to fire you, a co-worker who uses authority to trap you alone. That is still sexual assault.

And the employer can be liable too. Under South Carolina law, an employer who knew — or should have known — that an employee was dangerous and failed to supervise, discipline, or fire him can be sued directly for negligent supervision or retention (Degenhart v. Knights of Columbus, 309 S.C. 114 (1992); Doe v. Bishop of Charleston, 754 S.E.2d 494 (S.C. 2014)). You do not have to sue only the individual. The company that kept a predator on staff answers for that choice.

For Men: Yes, It Counts

Men are sexually assaulted on college campuses too — by women and by men. South Carolina's sexual assault laws are gender-neutral. They protect male and female victims equally.

If you are a man asking "was I sexually assaulted" or "does this count," here are the answers: an erection is not consent. Freezing is not consent. Not fighting back is not consent. Being too drunk to understand what was happening is not consent. Shame about what happened does not make it your fault, and fear that no one will believe you does not mean you have no case.

Male survivors face real barriers — disbelief, ridicule, the myth that men cannot be assaulted. The law does not share those myths. You have the same rights, the same claims, and the same deadlines as any other survivor.

The Cornell 7 Case: What Happened and Why It Matters in South Carolina

You have probably seen the headlines. In September 2026, a former Cornell University student filed a 101-page lawsuit in New York against seven members of Cornell's Chi Phi fraternity, plus the university itself. The allegations, which have not been proven in court:

On the night of October 19, 2024, the 20-year-old student — who says she had been drinking heavily — went to the Chi Phi house, where she says the men pressured her to snort what they told her was ketamine. She alleges seven men then sexually assaulted her over several hours, until about 5:45 a.m., by which point she says she was completely incapacitated. A fraternity group chat allegedly lit up at 1:42 a.m. with a message reading "free pussy" upstairs. She reported to campus police on November 8, 2024. No criminal charges were filed in 2024. Cornell's Title IX process held more than a dozen hearings: two of the seven were expelled, and the chapter was closed. In late September 2026, the county district attorney reopened the criminal investigation and plans to present the case to a grand jury.

Why does a New York case matter in South Carolina? Because every theme in it is the same theme in SC cases: incapacitation and consent. Drugs and alcohol. Group-chat evidence. A campus disciplinary process running parallel to — and separate from — the criminal justice system. A civil lawsuit moving forward even though no one was arrested. Institutional liability for a school that allegedly tolerated the environment.

New York is not South Carolina, and New York law does not decide SC cases. But the questions the Cornell 7 case raises — was she too incapacitated to consent, did the school do enough, can victims get justice without a criminal conviction — are the exact questions South Carolina courts answer every year. And in South Carolina, the law gives survivors real civil options — including claims that do not require a criminal conviction.

One more point the case illustrates: agreeing to one act is not agreeing to the next. Consent to earlier encounters does not carry forward, and a person incapacitated by drugs or alcohol cannot give valid consent to anything that follows. Prior consent is not a blank check.

Can I Sue My University for Sexual Assault? Title IX in South Carolina

Possibly. Title IX applies to schools that take federal money, which includes most colleges and universities in South Carolina — public schools like USC, Clemson, the College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Winthrop, and the Citadel, plus many private ones.

Under Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education (526 U.S. 629 (1999)), a school can be liable for money damages when student-on-student sexual harassment happens and the school had actual knowledge, was deliberately indifferent, and the harassment was severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive enough to deprive the victim of educational opportunities. In plain terms: if you reported sexual assault and your school shrugged, delayed, or protected the attacker, the school can be sued.

Two warnings. First, if your school is public — USC, Clemson, College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Winthrop, the Citadel, SC State — the South Carolina Tort Claims Act applies: you have two years (not three) to file, damages are capped at $300,000 per person, and punitive damages are barred. Miss the deadline and the claim is gone. Second, you do not need a criminal conviction, an arrest, or even a police report to file a Title IX civil claim. The civil case stands on its own.

Can You Sue for Sexual Assault Without a Criminal Conviction — or Without Pressing Charges?

Yes. This is the most common misunderstanding survivors have. The criminal case and the civil case are separate. The criminal case is the state versus the attacker, and it requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Your civil lawsuit is you versus the attacker (and possibly the school or employer), and it requires proof by a preponderance of the evidence — more likely than not.

That difference decides cases. The Coastal Carolina prosecution described above was dismissed. A civil case on the same facts could still win. You do not have to "press charges" to sue. You do not need the district attorney's permission. And the statute of limitations for your civil claim runs whether or not anyone is ever arrested.

How Long Do I Have to Sue for Sexual Assault in South Carolina?

For most adult survivors, the deadline is three years from the assault (S.C. Code § 15-3-530). If you were a minor, the clock is tolled until you turn 18. If you are suing a public university, the Tort Claims Act gives you two years.

Three years sounds like a long time. It is not. Evidence disappears — texts get deleted, witnesses graduate and scatter, memories fade, drugs leave the bloodstream in days. The strongest cases are built early. Do not wait to find out whether you have a case. Find out now.

What To Do Now

I have handled sexual assault cases in South Carolina and secured substantial awards for my clients. I know how these cases work — the evidence that matters, the defenses the other side raises, and how to build a civil case that wins even when the criminal system does nothing.

If you were sexually assaulted on a South Carolina campus — at USC, Clemson, the College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Winthrop, Furman, Wofford, the Citadel, or any school in this state — talk to a lawyer before the evidence fades and the deadlines run.

Get a Free Consultation: call (843) 343-5092.