Katie Robb

From Rofflehaus

On August 29, 2001 ¹, Robb filed a report with DPS that a black man had kidnapped her outside of Gilman Hall at gunpoint at 11AM, drove her to a parking lot north of the Office and Laboratory Building where three other black men were waiting. And then, she said, they raped her.

The report met with simultaneous suspicion and panic, the main question being: How could a black man kidnap someone at gunpoint in broad daylight in front of one of the busiest campus bustops? But the audacity of the alleged crime only confirmed ISUers' fears that black men were apparently as adept and graceful at kidnapping as they were at stealing passes on the Hilton Coliseum floor. And no one really wants to question a rape claim ² anyway, no matter how crazy it sounds.

Robb also said the men were all about 6 feet tall or bigger...which really pinpointed the Cyclone athletic teams.

The next day, though, Robb confessed that the whole thing was a lie. The university and DPS ³ charged her with filing a false report.

Robb was sentenced to 18 months probation and 100 hours of community service. Plus psychiatric help, of course. She later transferred to Drake University, ostensibly to become a lawyer.

Ethos featured an interview ⁴ with Robb in its March 2002 issue, in which the most important question, "Why did she do it?" was not reported. She was asked what was going on in her life before she made the accusation, and she only answered on grounds that the reporter turn off his recorder and not take notes. Her motive to this day has not been publicly revealed.

The Daily took some heat ⁵ for revealing Robb's name ⁶ and that she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta. Robb noted in her ethos interview that the Daily omitted the fact that Robb had written for them for about a year.

[edit] References

• [1]: DPS investigates kidnapping, sexual assault (Iowa State Daily: 08/30/2001)
• [2]: The article, A state of shock, in the 08/30, 2001 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 08/30/2001)
• [3]: The article, Englin says university will charge Robb for false rape allegation, in the 11/05, 2001 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 11/05/2001)
• [4]: http://web.archive.org/web/20030507231525/www.ethos.iastate.edu/3-53/3-53-9.htm
• [5]: The article, Daily decisions harder than you think, in the 09/10, 2001 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 09/10/2001)
• [6]: The article, False assault claim brings charges, in the 09/05, 2001 edition of the Iowa State Daily is still unavailable due to a change in the Daily's website and general laziness of Rofflehaus contributors. If you'd like to help fix a broken link like this, check out Template talk:ISUD to find out how. Thank you for your patience. (D: 09/05/2001)