USU police chief resigns after comments about sex assault claims from LDS women

USU Police Chief Earl Morris

LOGAN — The chief of police at Utah State University has resigned as the school investigates comments he made about sexual assaults to the football team earlier this year. Earl Morris quit Thursday, a day after the school placed him on administrative leave pending confirmation of what administrators called, “reprehensible and unacceptable comments made to USU student-athletes.”

The resignation came after an audio recording was made public as part of a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Federal Court. During the alleged football team meeting, Morris is heard warning players that LDS women “may have sex with you,” but then tell their religious leaders that it was nonconsensual. He continued to explain that the women might be “feeling regret” for having sex before marriage, which goes against the faith’s teachings of abstinence, so they’ll say it was assault.

In the lawsuit, Kaytriauna Flint alleges that the university continues to protect its football players and deliberately disregard women when they report they were sexually assaulted by a member of the team, which she claims happened to her.

USU spokesperson Amanda DeRito said “the recorded comments are not consistent with the university’s values or the trainings provided on sexual misconduct at Utah State, nor do they reflect USU’s efforts to prevent sexual misconduct and reduce barriers to reporting. Students and employees should feel confident that when they report sexual misconduct, the university will respond without bias.”

Morris began serving as USU’s police chief July 1, 2019. Previously he was the director of Public Safety for Brigham Young University Hawaii and the Polynesian Cultural Center, both operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In September, Morris helped the police department become an officially accredited agency, through the Utah Chiefs of Police Association. USU became just the second university in the state to receive police accreditation.

This week’s lawsuit and Morris’ resignation once again shines a light on sexual assaults on and around USU’s Logan campus. The attention grew in 2016 when multiple women came forward, describing how they were raped by former football player Torrey Green. He was later found guilty of raping six women and is serving a sentence of 26-years-to-life in prison.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report detailing a pattern of mistreatment of victims at USU. Federal investigators found that Utah State repeatedly mishandled cases of sexual assault on campus, failing to act when it knew about misconduct. It wasn’t just focused on sexual assaults by football players though. The report also found rapes reported at fraternities received “minimal investigation.”

DeRito explained how the university has made a great deal of progress in its sexual misconduct prevention and response efforts, including instituting mandatory prevention education for students and additional education for student-athletes, hiring two staff positions in the Office of Equity to support students, updating policies and procedures, creating informational materials to better inform the campus community, introducing the Upstanding program, conducting three campus climate surveys to gauge students’ experiences and university progress, and participating in the annual Start by Believing campaign. Additionally, in January 2020, USU Police created a specialized unit that includes a confidential advocate from the Sexual Assault and Anti-Violence Office and a dedicated law enforcement detective to respond to reported incidents of sex crimes and domestic violence.

She said, “USU stands firm in its commitment to create a campus culture where individuals understand and practice sexual respect, and survivors of sexual assault are supported.”

Kent Harris has been named interim director and police chief. Harris has more than 30 years of police experience and has been a member of the USU Police for the past 12 years. He holds a Master of Social Work degree from USU.


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5 Comments

  • Special K December 16, 2021 at 7:43 pm Reply

    He makes a valid point. My only issue is that it is not just LDS females. Instead of running out a good cop. Why doesn’t USU have mandatory classes of what consent actually consist of. The vast majority of kids in Utah have no clue, because sex is such a taboo here.

    • Kramer December 17, 2021 at 10:08 am Reply

      Your sexual predatorness is showing

      • Special K December 19, 2021 at 5:12 pm Reply

        Your ignorance is showing. Then again are probably such a poor parent that you supported the curtain of Zion law in Utahs restaurants. All he did was tell them to watch out. Then again we all know the old adage of “if you lie down with dogs you wind up with fleas.

    • Bob Ligma December 17, 2021 at 9:42 pm Reply

      They do have classes like that.

  • KA December 17, 2021 at 8:29 am Reply

    He probably shouldn’t have said what he said, but he’s not exactly wrong.

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