WASHINGTON – Former sex crimes prosecutor and U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill today released the following response to the release of an independent report into the circumstances surrounding the death of former MU student-athlete Sasha Menu Courey:

“This report sets out in stark terms that the University must do better. Clearly the University wanted the unvarnished truth about their shortcomings, which is laudable. Now it’s time to get to work and make the University a model for victim support and accountability for thorough investigations.”

Menu Courey’s story was publicized after an ESPN Outside the Lines report earlier this year.

Earlier this week, McCaskill met with the leaders of the Civil Rights divisions of the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education, to continue laying the groundwork for her effort to curb sexual assaults on college campuses. McCaskill has also requested from U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan specific information and data, including how the federal government oversees reporting by colleges and universities, written guidance provided to colleges and universities and local law enforcement, information on any training provided to colleges and universities, enforcement actions by the federal government, and data on how many sexual assault cases are adjudicated administratively by universities versus how many are prosecuted in the local criminal justice system.