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FSU to settle with woman who accused Jameis Winston

<p>More than three years after Erica Kinsman accused then-Florida State University quarterback Jameis Winston of rape, Kinsman has settled her Title IX lawsuit with FSU for $950,000. </p><p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaaf/2016/01/25/florida-state-settles-title-ix-lawsuit-erica-kinsman-jameis-winston/79299304/" target="_blank">According to USA Today</a>, which broke the story, this is the largest lump-sum settlement ever "for Title IX claims regarding indifference to a student's reported sexual assault." (Video via <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck4HYOMdQjM" target="_blank">Florida State University</a>)</p><p>"We've carefully examined all the evidence in this case and have concluded that no charges will be filed against anyone in this case," former <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIrZ7oZ65qI" target="_blank">State Attorney of Florida Willie Meggs said</a> in a 2013 press conference.</p><p>The state of Florida <a href="http://www.newsy.com/videos/jameis-winston-won-039-t-be-charged-with-sexual-assault/" target="_blank">declined to press charges</a> against Winston in 2013 after investigating Kinsman's claim, but a follow-up investigation by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/16/sports/errors-in-inquiry-on-rape-allegations-against-fsu-jameis-winston.html" target="_blank">The New York Times</a> raised some serious questions about potential errors in the state's inquiry.</p><p>While the lawsuit filed by Kinsman is now settled, FSU still faces an investigation by the <a href="http://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-list-higher-education-institutions-open-title-ix-sexual-violence-investigations" target="_blank">U.S. Department of Education</a>, which started looking into the university's handling of sexual assaults in 2014, along with several other institutions around the country. </p><p>Along with the $950,000 payout, the settlement with Kinsman includes a five-year commitment from FSU to conduct training and sexual violence prevention programs, as well as <a href="https://twitter.com/RachelAxon/status/691669953578192896" target="_blank">release annual reports</a> on those programs. </p><p><i>This video includes images from Getty Images.</i></p>
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TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State University said Monday it's settling a lawsuit with a former student who said the school failed to respond when she accused former star quarterback Jameis Winston of rape.

FSU will pay Erica Kinsman $250,000 and her attorneys $700,000, university President John Thrasher said in a press release. He said FSU is settling to avoid spending millions on the lawsuit.

"Although we regret we will never be able to tell our full story in court, it is apparent that a trial many months from now would have left FSU fighting over the past rather than looking toward its very bright future," Thrasher said in the release.

As part of the settlement, FSU is making a five-year commitment to sexual assault awareness and prevention. The university also has agreed to publish annual reports for the next five years about those programs, attorneys for the woman who accused Winston, Erica Kinsman, said in a separate statement.

Kinsman has said the university failed to respond to allegations that Winston sexually assaulted her and has a separate lawsuit pending against Winston. The former student has said she was drunk at a Tallahassee bar in December 2012 when Winston and others took her to an apartment, where she says the quarterback raped her.

Winston has said the allegations are false and that he and Kinsman had consensual sex. Prosecutors said there wasn't enough evidence to win a conviction and that there were gaps in Kinsman's story.

"My hope is that the federal investigation of my complaint by the Office of Civil Rights will produce even more positive change, not just at FSU, but across the country," Kinsman said in the statement. The Associated Press doesn't routinely identify people who say they're sexual assault victims, but Kinsman told her story publicly in a documentary.