Does this story name victims of sexual assault?

I’m not posting the paragraph here, but I want to know if I’m right in presuming people named are plaintiffs / complainants rather than defendants. (If you read far enough, you’ll know the passage to which I refer. )

Purdue-Fort Wayne volleyball coach gone as more players come forward alleging sexual abuse

This strikes me as very rare.

 

Definitely rare. But it also reads like they are publicly named in the lawsuit, so it would seem they chose to go public with the accusations rather than pursue it anonymously.

 

I would be more comfortable naming the victims if they confirm to the news outlet first that they are going public.

 

Putting your name on a civil complaint is good confirmation that someone is going public.

 

I usually would just ask the plaintiff's attorney if they wanted to be named and I would respect it if they didn't. I would add a line saying the newspaper is not naming the plaintiff because "it generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual assault without their consent," or something like that.

There sometimes can be an issue in criminal cases, too. I remember an instance where a man was was charged with raping his young daughter. One newspaper named the suspect and said he was charged with rape of a child and left it at that. Another paper chose to leave out the suspect's name so they could go for the incest shock value. Put it together, and you get the full story but the the family drama was fully outed.