LSU Cut Penalty for Football Player Found Responsible for Rape in Title IX Case; District Attorney Opens Criminal Investigation

A year after the alleged assault, a campus disciplinary ruling is now the subject of a criminal investigation in Baton Rouge.

Kendall Danielle Francis, 19, says she was raped by an LSU football player at about 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 18, 2025. She went public in a Sept. 14 TikTok video, after learning the university had reduced his punishment.

The LA Times and Tiger Rag identify the player as Damien Shanklin, a 20-year-old redshirt freshman defensive end from Indianapolis. No criminal charges have been filed against him.

What the university decided

According to Francis, LSU's Office of Civil Rights and Title IX found Shanklin responsible for "forcible rape" and suspended him from school and campus activities for two semesters. Shanklin appealed.

Administrative law judge Janet Waguespack heard the appeal in August. She ruled the original sanction was "exceedingly harsh," noting the two students engaged in "both consensual and nonconsensual" sexual activity and that "the time was brief."

In her written ruling, Waguespack said Shanklin's behavior, "although nonconsensual, did not exhibit a deliberate disregard for the dignity and autonomy of Complainant but was instead an error in judgment."

The judge cut the penalty to four semesters of probation. He could stay on campus and remain on the team.

Francis says she learned of the result by email two days into the current semester, while she was in class. She has since moved her coursework online.

"Now I am just trying to speak on my story, because LSU does really protect their athletes, especially their football players," she said in the TikTok video.

The account in the documents

ESPN, citing Title IX documents and police reports, reported that the two had consensual sexual activity in Shanklin's dorm room. It reported that he then had penetrative sex with her without consent for nearly 20 seconds before she told him to stop.

Francis alleges Shanklin sent her $1,000 after she obtained a rape kit at a hospital. That claim is hers. Nothing in the record establishes it beyond her allegation.

The criminal side

Francis's spokesperson says LSU never told her that a Title IX complaint is separate from a criminal complaint. "She just assumed LSU would do the criminal investigation," the spokesperson said.

An LSU spokesperson said the student-athlete was the first to report the matter to police, but no criminal complaint was filed at that point. The university says it followed its Title IX policy throughout.

After the first video, Francis says she went to Baton Rouge police, who sent her to LSU police because the alleged incident fell in that department's jurisdiction. She posted a clip of an LSUPD officer telling her that police have made many arrests that were never prosecuted. "That doesn't mean he's not going to be arrested," the officer said, before adding that he sees "issues."

District Attorney Hillar Moore III's office then opened its own case. "This is now an open criminal investigation," Moore said Sept. 22. He has requested "all reports, interviews, evidence, and other relevant records" from LSU, LSU police, Baton Rouge police and the East Baton Rouge Coroner's Office, which handles evidence collection for sexual assault victims.

Shanklin's side and LSU's

Shanklin's attorneys, Grant L. Willis and Morgan H. Johnson, say he is innocent. "What has been portrayed on social media and in the news thus far is not a full account of all the facts and circumstances surrounding this situation," they said in a statement.

A Title IX finding is an administrative determination, not a criminal conviction. Whether the facts meet the legal definition of rape is the question now before the DA.

LSU President Wade Rousse has defended the school's conduct. "Let me assure everyone that this incident has been handled professionally and that LSU has strictly followed our policies, procedures and best practices, including the Title IX process," he said. He added that the university will keep cooperating with law enforcement.

First-year coach Lane Kiffin said Sept. 28 that he cannot say much. "We just followed what the university told us to do," he said. "We're not allowed to do anything else in this situation."

Roster status and campus protest

Shanklin did not take part in preseason camp and has not appeared in a game this season. Tiger Rag reports he has been on the sideline and was briefly suspended from the team in August before returning. In 2025 he played in five games and recorded two tackles, both sacks.

At a Friday LSU Board of Supervisors meeting, police escorted out four protesters who chanted "Shame on you" during public comment. About 15 more students outside chanted "Expel Damien now."

Student Ziad Eissa, a member of Students for a Democratic Society at LSU, said, "I fear for the safety of students on this campus and of women on this campus."

Board chairman Lee Mallett said, "There's a time and place, and right now is not the place. This kind of stuff is not going to be tolerated, not as long as I'm chair."

What is unresolved

The case now sits with Moore's office, which has not said when it will finish gathering records or whether it will seek charges. Any decision on charges will rest on the same evidence the appeals judge weighed, plus whatever investigators add.

The contested question has two parts. One is whether Shanklin's conduct was criminal. The other is whether an administrative appeal that called a nonconsensual act "an error in judgment" was a defensible reading of LSU's own rules.