A fraternity at Penn State University allegedly set up a private Facebook page where members discussed drug sales and circulated nude photos of unconscious women, according to evidence collected in a police affidavit obtained by The Huffington Post.
Penn State has placed the Kappa Delta Rho fraternity on an interim suspension while the Interfraternity Council works with local police to investigate the Facebook postings.
Kappa Delta Rho members allegedly operated a private Facebook page titled "2.0" for nearly a year, police said. Prior to April 2014, KDR allegedly operated another version of the page called "Covert Business Operations." At some point, a student discovered a topless photo of herself on the page and "threatened" the fraternity until they shut it down, according to the police affidavit.
The investigation became public Monday when WJAC-TV reported on the police inquiry.
Penn State is located in State College, Pennsylvania. State College Police Lt. Keith Robb said the police investigation is being conducted jointly with the Penn State student affairs office.
"We're looking to identify victims whose photos rise to the invasion of privacy section, which is a misdemeanor," Robb told HuffPost. "We're hoping through [Penn State's] assistance and influence, they'll get members of the fraternity to tell who was responsible for actually posting the photos."
Police were first alerted on Jan. 18 by a former fraternity member that KDR was allegedly operating a private, invite-only Facebook page where 144 members, including current undergraduates and alumni, were posting photos of "unsuspecting victims, drug sales and hazing."
The nude women photographed "appeared to be passed out and nude or in other sexual or embarrassing positions," police said, and the individuals in the photos evidently still do not know the photos were even taken.
Members of the Facebook page bragged about who they "banged," posted photos of strippers hired for frat parties and discussed sexual conquests, according to screen shots included in police evidence. One of the Facebook posts showed a text message from a woman to one of the members saying that she "blacked out" and assumed she'd had sex with him, but was concerned about whether they'd used protection.
The university placed KDR on interim suspension on March 3.
"Upon learning from officials at Penn State that the KDR chapter at the university had been placed on full chapter suspension, our national leadership immediately examined the facts available to us at this time," Joseph S. Rosenberg, national executive director for KDR, said Tuesday in a statement to HuffPost. "In accordance with that review, we have placed the chapter on suspension for the remainder of this semester and we are conducting a full membership review and reorganization."
After the police investigation, Rosenberg added, the national KDR headquarters will "make a decision regarding the Penn State chapter that is appropriate for all parties."