Catherine Reddington, 22, has claimed repeatedly via social media that Alex Goldman, also 22, raped her following a party in April last year. Photo / Facebook
Catherine Reddington, 22, has claimed repeatedly via social media that Alex Goldman, also 22, raped her following a party in April last year. Photo / Facebook
A college student is suing a woman for US$6million because he says her unsubstantiated claims that he raped her after a drunken frat party have "destroyed" his life.
Catherine Reddington, 22, has claimed repeatedly on social media that Alex Goldman raped her after a party in April last year at Syracuse University's Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity in upstate New York.
She told police and the university of the rape accusations in the days after the party and has taken to social media several times in the past month to reveal the details of her alleged assault.
Goldman, also 22, was expelled from Syracuse University after the claims surfaced and more recently was fired from his summer internship with an engineering firm when his accuser informed them of the allegations.
He was never arrested or charged, the MailOnline reported.
"During the early hours of April 23, 2017 I was raped and sodomised. I woke up in Delta Kappa Epsilon Fraternity in Alex Goldman's bed confused, bloody, bruised, with ripped clothing and splinter," Reddington wrote on Facebook on June 4.
"Alex Goldman is a rapist."
A police investigation into the allegations found no evidence that Reddington had been raped or even had a sexual encounter with Goldman that night.
The investigation, which involved a medical exam and rape kit within 26 hours of the alleged rape, found Reddington had no cuts or abrasions in her vagina and that there was no traces of Goldman's DNA.
Both Reddington and Goldman said at the time that they had no memory of the night before.
Goldman filed a defamation lawsuit against Reddington last week claiming his former classmate was waging a campaign to "destroy and wreak havoc" on his life and get him expelled from his new school.
"In the past few weeks, in particular, [Reddington] has made numerous posts on social media platforms Facebook and Linkedln falsely accusing Mr Goldman of sexual assault and stating that he is a 'rapist'," the lawsuit states.
"These posts by [Reddington] included a picture of Mr Goldman and 'tagged' Mr Goldman's employer and the university where Mr Goldman attends college. These vicious accusations were knowingly false and intentionally made. These social media posts have been viewed and 'liked' by thousands of people."
In her Facebook posts, Reddington has often tagged the New Jersey Institute of Technology, the school Goldman now attends.
Reddington contacted Goldman's employer over social media to inform them of the allegations. Photo / Facebook
She also left a review on NJIT's Facebook page that reads: "A school that accepts recently expelled rapists, despite it being marked on their transcript."
Reddington contacted Goldman's employer, Bohler Engineering, over social media to inform them of the allegations. She then posted what appeared to be an exchange with Bohler in which they told her Goldman had been fired.
Goldman is now seeking $6m ($8.8m) in damages from the defamation lawsuit claiming he has suffered emotional, mental and economic harm because of Reddington's allegations.