BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA — A sexual-assault case involving an LSU student and a football player has entered a new phase after the university’s Title IX process determined that conduct classified as sexual assault—forcible rape occurred, while the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office has now opened a criminal investigation.

The case is also raising a new question:

Did LSU comply with its own agreement requiring prompt notification to law enforcement when a possible felony is reported on campus?

That question emerged after additional reporting examined an interagency memorandum of understanding involving LSU and local law-enforcement agencies.

WHAT HAPPENED?

Kendall Francis, a first-generation LSU student, says she went to an LSU dorm in October 2025 to visit a football player she had met through social media.

Francis states that she was sexually assaulted during the visit.

She has publicly said the incident occurred at approximately 4:30 a.m. on October 18, 2025.

Francis told WAFB that she returned to her apartment afterward and was in shock.

She said LSU Police came to her apartment, took her to a hospital and that she spent approximately seven hours there.

THE POLICE RESPONSE

An LSU Police incident report obtained by the WAFB I-TEAM indicates that an officer responded to LSU’s football operations building on October 18, 2025.

The call was initially classified as a mental-health call, and a woman was transported to a local hospital for evaluation.

The Title IX office reportedly did not receive the police report until December 9, 2025 — nearly two months later.

Francis filed a formal Title IX complaint with LSU in January 2026.

The university investigated the allegation and conducted hearings before an administrative law judge.

According to documents obtained, LSU’s Title IX process ultimately determined that conduct classified as sexual assault—forcible rape occurred.

The student-athlete appealed.

The finding was subsequently upheld, but LSU modified the sanction to disciplinary probation without restrictions.

THIS WAS NOT A CRIMINAL CONVICTION

There is a distinction between the university proceeding and a criminal investigation.

The LSU Title IX decision was an administrative finding, not a criminal conviction.

LSU used a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard in its administrative process—essentially determining whether the conduct was more likely than not to have occurred.

A criminal prosecution is different.

A prosecutor would have to establish the elements of a criminal offense beyond a reasonable doubt in court.

Therefore, the Title IX finding does not itself establish criminal guilt.

At the same time, the finding was not overturned on appeal; according to the reporting, the finding remained in place while the sanction was modified.

DID LSU HAVE TO NOTIFY LAW ENFORCEMENT?

This is where the newest reporting adds another important layer.

Tiger Rag reported that LSU, LSU Police, Baton Rouge Police, the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office, the District Attorney’s Office and other institutions had signed an East Baton Rouge Parish power-based-violence memorandum of understanding.

According to the publicly available agreement, an institution receiving a report of power-based violence involving a possible felony on campus is required to promptly notify the law-enforcement agency with jurisdiction.

The question is whether the university was required under its own institutional agreement to notify law enforcement that a possible felony had been reported, even without identifying the complainant.

LSU HAS NOT ANSWERED THAT QUESTION

That leaves an unresolved issue:

When LSU’s Title IX office became aware that the matter involved an allegation potentially amounting to a felony, was the required law-enforcement notification made?

The publicly available records do not establish the answer.

WHO IS DAMIEN SHANKLIN?

This is another area where the public record needs to be handled carefully.

LSU’s official athletics website identifies Damien Shanklin as a defensive end wearing No. 17.

Tiger Rag reported that an LSU Police report identifies Shanklin as the student-athlete who initiated police contact on October 18, 2025.

THE CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION

On September 22, 2026, the East Baton Rouge Parish District Attorney’s Office confirmed that it had opened an investigation into the allegations.

District Attorney Hillar Moore said his office requested reports, interviews, evidence and other relevant records from:

- LSU

- LSU Police Department

- Baton Rouge Police Department

- East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner’s Office

- Other agencies with relevant information

Moore said the matter had previously been addressed through a campus-level investigative and review process.

LSU’S RESPONSE

LSU President Wade Rousse said the university takes allegations of misconduct seriously and maintained that LSU followed its policies, procedures and Title IX process.

The university has said it will cooperate with law enforcement now that a criminal complaint has been filed.

This case demonstrates why sexual-assault cases involving universities can become complicated when Title IX procedures, campus police, institutional policies, privacy protections and criminal investigations overlap.

For Francis, the case has become a public effort to obtain accountability after she says she believed the university’s Title IX finding would lead to criminal action.

And for investigators, one of the newest questions is whether LSU fulfilled its own obligation to notify law enforcement when a possible felony was reported.

The criminal investigation remains ongoing.