Clemson student charged with falsely reporting rape says she is victim of sex assault

The Oconee County Sheriff’s Office has arrested a Clemson University student who investigators say was untruthful when she said she was sexually assaulted at an off-campus fraternity house in January.

Sarah Katherine Campbell, 18, was arrested Wednesday and charged with filing a false police report of a felony, Jimmy Watt, public information officer for the Oconee County Sheriff's Office, said in a news release. The charge is a felony. 

In a brief phone conversation Thursday, Campbell said she's the victim.

"I’m a victim of sexual assault," Campbell said. "This story is being blown out of proportion, and that’s all I can say."

Campbell, of Herndon, Virginia, was booked into the Oconee County Detention Center about 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and was later released on a $5,000 personal recognizance bond, Watt said. 

In the early hours of Saturday, Jan. 27, the Clemson University Police Department notified the Oconee County Sheriff's Office about a reported sexual assault at the Delta Chi fraternity house on D Morris Way in Seneca.

The Oconee County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a sexual assault at the Delta Chi fraternity house, 205 D Morris Way in Seneca, in the early hours of Saturday

All fraternities activities were shut down by Clemson's self-governing Interfraternity Council on Jan. 28 while the investigation was underway.  IFC President Landon Flowers released a statement on Twitter that day to explain the shutdown, stating the council is committed to "holding our members to a higher standard."

On Jan. 27, deputies spoke with Campbell, the reported victim of the assault, and started an investigation, Watt said. No charges were ever filed against the suspect in the reported sexual assault.

Investigators determined the sexual encounter between Campbell and the accused individual were consensual, and that "Campbell had not been truthful in the information that she provided," Watt said in the release. 

Watt declined to release any details about evidence that led investigators to arrest Campbell. He said the investigation is ongoing.