Celtic hopeful wins six-figure sum over rape claim lawsuit at US university
A ScottiSh footballer has won a six-figure compensation payout after being falsely accused of rape at a US university.
ciaran McKenna, 20, had a promising career ahead of him at celtic after spending years coming through the youth ranks.
But at the age of 17 he turned down a lucrative three-year contract with the club and instead took a £200,000 scholarship to play at Duke University in North carolina.
Yet just a few months into his studies, his American dream came crashing down when a female student accused him of rape and the university suspended him, despite no criminal charges being brought. Now after winning his case in the US courts, Mr McKenna is set to return to Scotland where he hopes to reignite his footballing career with celtic.
the Scot, who is due to graduate in December, spoke yesterday of his relief after a lawsuit against the university was settled out of court for an undisclosed six-figure sum.
he said: ‘it’s been a rollercoaster but i don’t regret coming to Duke.’
Mr McKenna met the girl at a nightclub in November 2015. they left together and when they had sex in a dorm house he thought it was consensual. it is understood the girl later asked for his phone number.
But several months later the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the university authorities the encounter had not been consensual. they ruled that his testimony about the alleged rape failed ‘to show that the complainant clearly and affirmatively consented to having sexual intercourse’.
Mr McKenna was found responsible for violating the university’s sexual misconduct policy, concluding that he had sexually assaulted the female student.
When he was suspended for six semesters he appealed twice, unsuccessfully, before filing for an injunction in the US courts, which allowed him to finish his studies.
Yesterday Mr McKenna, from Uddingston, Lanarkshire, said he was baffled by the woman’s claims, pointing out that she had admitted she had thanked him and he kissed her afterwards. he said: ‘She’s claiming that i went from a rapist to a pretty decent person in the space of 15 minutes? that just doesn’t make sense at all.’
he said that on arriving at Duke he had felt under pressure: ‘i became popular very quickly, with the Scottish accent and the fact that i played for celtic, the stories that i had.
‘i had players tell me i’m going to get so many girls with my accent and the football. that almost made me feel i had to live up to some expectation of the cool, great Scottish footballer who can get all the girls.
‘i lost touch with God and catholicism – but this has made me realise how much i need God.’
Now Mr McKenna says he wants to enter politics. ‘i hope to get involved in some grassroots movements that focus on Scottish independence and socialism,’ he said.