A University of Sioux Falls student has asked a judge to intervene in a dispute with her ex-boyfriend over her fears that a sex video was secretly recorded in his dorm room.
The woman, 19, filed a civil complaint Thursday in Minnehaha County Circuit Court seeking a permanent injunction against Max Chapman, a 20-year-old USF student.
The students had been dating for three years before she broke up with him in July 2006, the complaint states.
She said that three months later, a mutual friend told her Chapman had displayed the video from his computer to two students, and that he intended to use it against her for ending the relationship, court records state.
The woman said that was the first she had learned of the video, which reportedly contained audio and visual depictions. She immediately confronted Chapman, who said the video only showed kissing and that he had erased it, the complaint states.
In December, the woman and her parents went to the Christian school’s dean of academic affairs, who agreed to conduct an investigation.
The dean, Brett Bradfield, said he could not comment on the investigation, but the civil complaint states that it’s unclear whether the video is still in Chapman’s possession.
The woman "is in constant fear that Max still possesses the video recording and that he intends to use it to harass, embarrass, annoy, intimidate and torment her by showing it to her family and friends and disseminating it to the general public," the complaint states.
The injunction would force Chapman to stop showing the video and to provide a specialist access to his computer to make sure the video no longer exists.
USF, a four-year institution with about 1,600 students, is affiliated with the American Baptist Church.