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It’s no laughing matter: Nicholas Riggs, a former adjunct professor who led an improvisational-comedy group at the University of South Florida, sexually assaulted one student there and sexually harassed another, according to a campus investigation. Riggs denied the allegations in the investigation and in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times; the newspaper obtained a copy of South Florida’s report on student complaints under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibiting gender discrimination in education.
According to the report, Riggs and his wife, a former graduate student on campus, often approached students together to proposition them for sex, but questions of consent arose over time and students said they felt pressured by Riggs. One complaint originated from a parent, whose son reportedly grew angry and withdrawn about being part of the group and by 2015 confessed to having had sex with Riggs and his wife.
The student said Riggs pressured him over time to have sex with him alone, and that Riggs made sexual jokes at his expense in group settings. Riggs allegedly showed favoritism to those students in whom he was sexually interested in the on-campus improv group when it came to performing in a second, off-campus improv group, according to that complaint. When the student broke off sexual contact with Riggs, he was allegedly shut out of improv social gatherings. The university concluded that Riggs’s behavior amounted to assault.
Another student filed a complaint against Riggs during the investigation, saying that Riggs told her he “loved her mind” and that he had a “crush” on her, after which she engaged in a sexual relationship with Riggs and his wife, and then Riggs alone. But when the student told Riggs she wanted to end the relationship, he allegedly came to her apartment. The student said she told Riggs she didn’t want to have sex that day, but they had sex anyway. The university concluded that Riggs’s visit to the student’s apartment was harassment.
The university also found some evidence that Riggs had harassed another student and failed to report an incident of nonconsensual sexual contact at one of his parties. Alcohol and marijuana were allegedly present at such events. South Florida’s investigation also raised questions about whether or not Riggs followed proper protocols for research involving human subjects in his dissertation, which has been removed from the university’s website, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Riggs obtained his Ph.D. from South Florida’s department of communication in 2016.
Riggs has been banned from teaching at South Florida and also has stopped teaching at several other area institutions, according to the Tampa Bay Times.
"As soon as USF became aware of the allegations against Riggs, we immediately began to review the matter," spokesman Adam Freeman said. "USF values respectful and fair treatment of all members of our community."
