>> i didn't say any of that. >> was it all a devious plot by jackie, making up the attack to snare the real boy who rejected her? >> she'll do anything she can to get you to fall in love with her. >> and the measures she took get more and more desperate. >> you believe she stole your story. >> now, the key players, and deposition tapes never seen in public. a reporter whose article had to be retracted. >> i had full faith in jackie. discovering that she had misled me was just devastating. >> 9,000 keystrokes, we were done. >> what happened to jackie? >> good evening. thanks for joining us on the start of your labor day weekend. i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas. a topic that's red-hot for parents and young people heading to college. the issue of sexual assault on campus. for one student named jackie, she says it was a terrible really, but was she telling the truth? >> many saying she was not. now, with the latest findings, who has the victim really turned out to be? here's amy robach. >> reporter: welcome weekend at the university of virginia. when 20,000 students descend on the small, idyllic southern city of charlottesville. the campus grounds suddenly alive with wide-eyed first years and their families, steadying themselves for that first collegiate instagram post and long hug good-bye. why did you choose to go to uva? >> it's a school that's known for having a really wide range of effective academic programs. and the campus is really nice, to boot. >> reporter: founded by thomas jefferson, uva boasts no shortage of accomplished alumni including journalist katie couric, comedienne tina fey, and the late robert f. kennedy. but it has another claim to fame you won't see on display in the rotunda. >> the very beginning of our first year, we won the -- "playboy," like, top party school in america award. >> there is a work hard, play hard culture at uva that's -- that's pretty pervasive. >> reporter: the year of that "playboy" honor was 2012, where our story begins. and the main character? a young woman, a freshman we're calling jackie. by all accounts her initial weeks are typical. getting to know the grounds and her classes, and hanging out in the dorms, where she meets three other first-year students, ryan duffin, kathryn hendley, and alex stock. do you remember coming to uva your freshman year, what it was like? >> i was pretty much just looking for friends at the beginning. and i met kathryn and i met ryan, and then through them i met jackie. and we kind of formed something of a friend group in the first couple weeks. >> reporter: when did you first meet jackie? >> i first met jackie on my second day at uva. a good person to spend time with. we were hanging out a lot in the first few weeks of school, probably every other night at least. >> reporter: just as quickly as the friendships formed, they say it appeared that jackie's feelings towards ryan extended to something more. did jackie tell you that she had feelings for your friend, ryan? >> yeah. oh, yeah. pretty quickly it became clear that she liked him. >> reporter: but you weren't interested in her romantically. >> no. i didn't want to date her. but it became clear very quickly that she had developed an interest in me. we did go on one date, because i figured, "if you're willing to ask, you should get a chance." but after that date i told her, you know, "sorry, i'd rather just keep this as friends." >> reporter: you said that to her. >> mm-hmm. >> reporter: and how did she respond? >> she started crying. did not go over well at all. >> i guess that really shook her up. when ryan wasn't interested in her, she would be, you know, crying her eyes out with me and kathryn. >> reporter: what would she say when she was crying? >> just mostly, "why doesn't he like me?" >> reporter: and she was devastated? >> yeah, i would say she was pretty upset. more upset than i think the average person would be on a crush that's lasted a week or two. >> reporter: but, soon enough, they say jackie has a new man in her life. an upperclassman, who happens to be a member of one of the school's most prominent fraternities, phi kappa psi. >> she said that there was somebody in her chemistry class who wanted to go on a date with her. >> reporter: did she give that person a name? >> yes. she said his name was haven monahan. >> reporter: remember that name. haven monahan, a name as peculiar as it will become paramount. >> this new guy comes on the scene who's suddenly interested in jackie. and jackie's -- loves to tell us all about it, i guess loves to tell ryan all about it. >> reporter: and according to her friends, jackie had a way with words. >> she was a great storyteller. she always told stories with a lot of detail and a lot of specifics that made you feel like you were -- almost like you were there. >> reporter: and on september 28th, 2012, jackie tells her friends a story that will change all of their lives, and countless others. take us back to that night. >> i got a phone call from her where she said, "hey, something happened. please come meet me." >> reporter: you immediately go? >> yeah. >> reporter: what did you see? >> she was sitting on a picnic table near some of the first-year dorms. she was crying. she's -- you know, was obviously really upset about something. >> reporter: what did jackie say happened? you were waiting for her to talk. and she talked. >> yes. >> reporter: ryan claims jackie tells him she had a date that night with haven, one that would end catastrophically. >> haven parked his car out in front of his fraternity house and said he had to run inside to grab something. he asked jackie if she wanted to come along. she said, "yes." she said that once they got up to his bedroom there were five other men waiting in the bedroom and haven forced jackie to perform oral sex on those five men. >> reporter: what was your response? >> the first thing i wanted to do was go to the police about it. jackie didn't want to. >> reporter: why? >> 'cause she didn't want to have to sit down in a police station and continually go over it, detail by detail. so i called alex and katherine. >> ryan's right in front of that dorm with jackie. and he's giving me a call and said, "something terrible has happened to jackie and you need to get here right away." and we get to the dorm and i go talk to ryan and figure out what's going on and he tells me that jackie's been raped. and jackie wasn't really talking much, but just kind of sitting there, like, affirming what ryan tells me. >> reporter: did you tell her to call police? >> that was kind of what ryan and i were both telling her. and, you know, obviously right after the -- the attack, she wasn't in any condition to go anywhere. she just wanted to go to bed. >> alex and i spent the night sleeping on sleeping bags in her dorm room to make sure that she was okay. >> reporter: in the subsequent days, jackie's friends say they continued to check in on her. did the two of you get closer during this time? did she lean on you more? >> no. so, we actually stopped hanging out a few weeks afterwards. >> reporter: why? >> it wasn't because of the assault. it was because -- yet again, she still would ask me why i was not willing to date her. and, you know, for lack of a better answer than, "i don't want to," i realized it would be better to cut off the friendship. >> reporter: it seemed like you came to the realization she couldn't accept just a friendship. >> yes. >> reporter: jackie chooses not to report the assault to the police and drifts away from her three friends. then, almost two years later, a reporter from "rolling stone" walks onto the campus and puts jackie's story, her former friends, and the university of virginia in the nation's crosshairs. >> an allegation of a brutal gang rape at a uva frat house caused outrage in charlottesville and nationwide. >> reporter: coming up -- jackie's story goes national. >> a student told "rolling stone" magazine that she was gang raped at a party. >> reporter: a campus and a country taking the story as gospel. >> the article was not to be questioned. it was the word of god when it came out. steak and lobster you asked for it, you got it. is back at outback. starting at $15.99 for a limited time, we're pairing our signature steaks with a mouthwatering, steamed lobster tail. starting at only $15.99. it's time to get back to outback. ladies, we don't need all this to talk about lbl. i mean, who leaks a little when they laugh? 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>> my book is in the library. it's in the women's center. there was a book tour. it was national. so it's very well known. >> reporter: so liz seccuro was only too willing to participate in that "rolling stone" article, concerned that history was possibly repeating itself. you were obviously struck by the similarities of jackie's story to your story. how so? what specifically? >> well, the house, first of all. and i think sabrina probably thought, "oh, my god, is this some sort of sick tradition?" >> reporter: know who else was wondering? the federal government. one of the reasons "rolling stone" was interested in uva is because at that time it was one of 85 schools under investigation for allegedly mishandling sexual assault complaints. >> uva was not providing prompt or equitable responses to sexual assault victims who chose to report. >> reporter: when the article comes, there is a torrent of reaction. shock, not just at jackie's horrific attack, but also at the way the university handled her case. dean eramo, the public face of the scandal, becomes public enemy number one. as protesters replace partygoers on uva's greek row. phi kappa psi house is defaced. a brick thrown through its window. "uva center for rape studies" spraypainted across its exterior. #istandwithjackie hashtags trend nationwide. uva president teresa sullivan holds a press conference. >> we have a problem and we will get after it. >> reporter: suspending greek life and calling for charlottesville police to investigate the heinous crime. >> it was something i had to struggle with, "did we know this? did anyone tell us this? is this the first we're finding out by reading a magazine? really?" >> reporter: coming up, "really?" becomes a real question when a new reporter starts digging. you weren't setting out to disprove this story. >> absolutely not. i was setting out to get to the bottom of the story. i told everybody that i met that i just want to find out the truth. >> reporter: turns out, the truth would become a moving target. but not before the dean becomes a pariah, fearful she may be the next target of violence. >> dear nicole eramo, the dean of rape. i hope you don't have a daughter. >> reporter: our interview with the woman in the eye of the storm, next. ies of hep c. wondering, what if? i let go of all those feelings. because i am cured with harvoni. harvoni is a revolutionary treatment for the most common type of chronic hepatitis c. it's been prescribed to more than a quarter million people. and is proven to cure up to 99% of patients who have had no prior treatment with 12 weeks. certain patients can be cured with just 8 weeks of harvoni. before starting harvoni, your doctor will test to see if you've ever had hepatitis b, which may flare up and cause serious liver problems during and after harvoni treatment. tell your doctor if you've ever had hepatitis b, a liver transplant, other liver or kidney problems, hiv or any other medical conditions and about all the medicines you take including herbal supplements. taking amiodarone with harvoni can cause a serious slowing of your heart rate. common side effects of harvoni include tiredness, headache and weakness. ready to let go of hep c? ask your hep c specialist about harvoni. getwith the cricketown unlimited 2 plan.less, two lines of unlimited data for $80/mo. plus, get 2 smartphones free, when you switch. all on a network that covers over 99% of americans. cricket wireless. something to smile about. mi'm evenarts win the kitchen. i need my blood sugar to stay in control. so i asked about tresiba®. ♪ tresiba® ready ♪ tresiba® is a once-daily, long-acting insulin that lasts even longer than 24 hours. i need to shave my a1c. ♪ tresiba® ready ♪ tresiba® works like my body's insulin. releases slow and steady. providing powerful a1c reduction. i'm always on call. an insulin that fits my schedule is key. ♪ tresiba® ready ♪ i can take tresiba® any time of day. so if i miss or delay a dose, i take it when i remember, as long as there's at least 8 hours between doses. once in use, it lasts 8 weeks with or without refrigeration, twice as long as the lantus® pen. 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associate dean of students, nicole eramo, who shared with us just a tame selection of the onslaught of hate mail she received in its wake. >> "dear nicole eramo, the dean of rape, i really hope that an enterprising u.s. attorney finds a way to throw you in prison. god will have his day with you and hold you accountable. you are a despicable human being." >> reporter: eramo, breaking her silence for the first time since the article was published. >> i just thought, "what am i going to do?" and that's hard. it was very hard. >> reporter: hardest, perhaps, because according to eramo, she is not only an employee who loved her students. >> this is my university of virginia ring. >> reporter: she's also a proud uva alum. >> i'm proud of it. i have three degrees from uva. >> reporter: as the associate dean of students, you are also the chair of uva's misconduct board. >> the sexual misconduct board. yes. >> reporter: so front line dealing with those who claim to have been sexually assault on campus, correct? >> yes. >> reporter: one of them was jackie. jackie came to her about a year after her alleged assault. yet, when eramo read the account in "rolling stone," she says it was practically unrecognizable. >> my heart sunk. it was very different from what i knew of the story. so i was very confused at first, like, "why wouldn't she tell me?" you know, "why would she provide all this information and not provide it to me and let me help her?" so that was kind of my first reaction. >> reporter: eramo says jackie's account in the magazine was far more specific, far more violent, and the portrayal of her support of jackie, very misleading. >> it portrayed her as a callous, indifferent administrator who became a false friend of jackie in order to coddle her into not reporting her sexual assault beyond the bounds of dean eramo's office. >> reporter: the "rolling stone" reporter requested an interview with eramo, but the school wouldn't allow her to participate. nevertheless, she's mentioned by name 31 times, and the article includes this photo illustration of her, and as you'll find out, it will become a major point of contention in the story. how would you describe how "rolling stone" portrayed you? >> they made it look like i used the trust of young women to cover up rapes. and that was so far from anything i would ever do. it was just unbelievable to me. >> reporter: quote, "because nobody wants to send their daughter to the rape school." did you say that? >> no. >> reporter: did she make that up? >> i can't say. but i know i didn't say it. >> reporter: would you have ever said anything like that to an alleged victim of sexual assault at the university of virginia? >> no. >> reporter: eramo says despite her issues with the accuracy of the article, her hands were tied due to privacy laws. >> i can't speak to the specifics of my interactions with students. >> reporter: you couldn't defend yourself? >> no. there was nothing i could do to speak to what i knew wasn't accurate. and that was really difficult. >> reporter: you were scared? >> yeah. i thought, i was sure i was going to be fired. i was sure that -- and i just didn't know if i could do it. honestly. and i went to work every day and i tried to do it, but i wasn't sure i could do it. >> reporter: but while the fires of fury burn on campus at uva, another reporter is about to stoke the flames from about 120 miles east at "the washington post." meet t. rees shapiro. shapiro works the "post"'s education beat. >> i had been in charlottesville for the better part of six weeks covering the hannah graham disappearance. and a lot of the feeling that i got at the time was, how come we are totally blindsided by this report out of "rolling stone," a national outlet that has no connection with charlottesville whatsoever? >> reporter: soon enough, shapiro is out of the newsroom and back in charlottesville talking to students. you weren't setting out to disprove this story. >> absolutely not. i was setting out to get to the bottom of the story. >> reporter: shapiro goes right to the source, jackie herself. and over a coffee, he says she doubles down on the story she told to "rolling stone." tell me about your impressions of jackie when you sat down with her. >> extremely intelligent. composed. sort of gently mannered. she came up to me and introduced herself. and said, "oh, hey, i'm jackie." and she wasn't afraid to be in public either. at that point, everybody it seemed in the nation knew of her story. and she didn't shy away from me. she didn't also shy away from any question that i asked. >> reporter: was she detailed? >> very detailed, absolutely. i went to my editor and i said, "well, you know, i've spoken with her. and i feel like we have a really good interview here." and he said, "well, now it's our turn to get to the truth of the matter, too. and that we need to find the people who allegedly assaulted her." >> reporter: on campus, shapiro can't find those anonymous alleged attackers, but who he does find brings the kind of breakthrough seasoned reporters bank on. >> the three friends that jackie had met in the immediate aftermath of that, they weren't hiding. they were happy to speak with me. >> reporter: in fact, those three friends might have been happy to talk to "rolling stone" too, but they didn't. why? jackie answered for them, telling the magazine they declined. >> sabrina asked jackie to reach out to me. jackie told sabrina that i had said no. >> reporter: coming up, when jackie's friends say yes to interviews, her story starts to crumble, and a different one emerges. >> i think she had a crush on a boy and was trying to get his attention. i think it's as simple as that. >> reporter: and later, remember that mystery man, haven monahan? who is he really? stay with us. when kids are coming into my classroom they know that... ...mr. jackson is the rapping teacher we call it the remainder that's number that remains. technology is a huge piece of education. using the pen for the first time on the windows 10 pc is great. i'm able to highlight different rhyme schemes, i can actually... ...see my lines when i'm shading in, i can change the... ...weight drawing directly on my screen. i couldn't do this on my mac. i can definitely see the future... ...happening, i mean i feel like the sky's the limit. the lincoln summer invitation is on. now get our best offers of the season. on the agile mkc. and the versatile midsize lincoln mkx. or go where summer takes you in the exhilarating mkz. hurry in it's the final days of the lincoln summer invitation sales event. ending september 5th. right now, get zero percent apr plus 1,000 dollars summer savings on the lincoln mkx, mkc and mkz. s'cuse me. mind if i sit here? 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"our worst nightmare." jackie isn't credible. we have to issue a retraction. within hours, they post an editor's note online acknowledging "mistakes in the reporting process." for first time on this story, the vaunted magazine is backtracking. they turn to the columbia journalism school to conduct an independent review. but that other reporter, "the washington post"'s t. rees shapiro, had already begun his own reporting -- starting with jackie's three friends, now under the microscope. their version of her story was very different than the one that appeared in "rolling stone." >> totally different. >> reporter: those friends? two of them, you met earlier. alex and ryan. named andy and randall in the article, they say they were portrayed as cold-hearted when jackie came to them in crisis. >> there were all these horrible quotes attributed to me about, you know, "quit being a baby," and, "we want to get into a fraternity, so stop whining." and i was thinking, "i didn't say any of that." >> that conversation never happened. we wanted her to go to authorities. >> reporter: sabrina did reach out to you after the article was published. >> yes. sabrina called me with one question. she wanted to know if jackie had ever actually asked me to be a part of the initial reporting. she had not. >> reporter: if you had spoken with "rolling stone" before the story was published, what would you have told them? >> i would've told them the story as i was told it by jackie, a version of the story inconsistent with what was published in the article. >> reporter: one of those inconsistencies? in the version they heard, there were five alleged attackers, not seven. and the ringleader of the assault had a name, haven monahan. she named her attacker as haven monahan. >> yes. >> reporter: haven monahan. remember, he was supposedly jackie's date the night in question. ryan says jackie told him she was nervous about dating an upperclassman, so she asked ryan to vet him. you had been texting him to find out his character on jackie's behalf. but in those texts -- obtained by "20/20" -- haven seems frustrated, because jackie is clearly smitten with someone else. "get this. she likes some other first-year guy. she said, 'this kid is smart and funny and worth it.'" >> so haven started speaking pretty quickly about how jackie was interested in some other guy she knew. >> reporter: they were describing you. >> yes. >> reporter: and you knew that immediately? >> it was pretty clear. >> reporter: ryan and haven never actually met in person, so after the alleged attack, he wants to confront him. >> i ran a search on uva's student directory to try to find haven monahan. no results. from what i could turn up, there was no student at uva named haven monahan. >> reporter: guess who else figured that out? the charlottesville police, who now say jackie isn't cooperating with its investigation. >> so that was an obstacle for us. >> reporter: leading police chief tim longo to make this blockbuster announcement. >> the act that does described was not consistent with what was described in the article in "rolling stone" magazine. i don't believe what was depicted in that article took place. did something happen? i don't know. >> reporter: so what about that "rolling stone" article? in april, 2015, the columbia journalism review weighs in and determines the story was, quote, "a journalistic failure that was avoidable." >> it was the product of failed methodology. >> reporter: five months after publication, "rolling stone" takes down its story. seeking to clear her name and restore her reputation, dean nicole eramo files a $7.85 million lawsuit against "rolling stone," and that reporter, sabrina rubin earley. defamation lawyers tom clare and libby locke took the case. what do you hope to gain with this lawsuit? >> first and foremost, we want the record set straight. >> reporter: as they begin to look carefully at the case, specifically those text messages, they conclude what might be the most incredible twist yet in this sad saga -- haven was jackie all along. was there an "aha moment" when you realized that this was a huge catfishing scheme? >> i think receiving those text messages from ryan and reading them back and forth, and seeing that there's just no way that this wasn't jackie. >> reporter: haven monahan was, in fact, jackie. >> yes. jackie was haven monahan. >> reporter: better put. clare and locke say they determined that jackie had created false phone numbers for haven to make ryan jealous. and when that didn't work, she upped the ante -- creating a fake story about an assault. she's pulling out all the stops. she's doing anything she can to get you to talk to her. >> uh-huh. >> reporter: to care about her, to fall in love with her. >> and the measures become more and more desperate as time goes on. >> reporter: so desperate, ryan says, at one point jackie even told him she's suffering from a terminal illness. >> she said there was a copy of her will on file at student health. >> reporter: jackie told you she was dying. >> yes. >> reporter: all concocted, clare and locke believe, to win ryan's heart. such an intricate and complicated story. >> all woven by one person. >> reporter: coming up -- the "rolling stone" reporter is before the cameras again. this time, under oath. and you'll never believe where jackie may have gotten inspiration for her story. hi. looks like verizon hooked the whole fam. they sure did! guy-who-used-to-ask-if-you-could -hear-him-now-with-verizon? 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oh! we'll alert you if we find your social security number on any one of thousands of risky sites, so you'll be in the know. ooh. sushi. ugh. being in the know is a good thing. sign up online for free. discover social security alerts. >> reporter: they're the most recognizable two notes in all of crime drama, but dean eramo's defamation lawyers say this scene should ring familiar too. >> the rape victim in that "svu" episode, as she's being attacked, the perpetrators say -- >> grab her legs. come on, grab her legs. >> reporter: and that's the same thing that jackie alleges that she heard one of her attackers say. libby locke and tom clare say jackie perpetrated an elaborate hoax. her story, really a series of composites plucked from pop culture. look at this -- a love letter written about ryan. >> ryan's great, actually. i mean, he's smart. he's attractive. he's funny. he's a scaredy cat. if you creep up behind him, he'll jump right out of his skin. >> reporter: they say jackie lifted it from "dawson's creek." >> she's great. i mean, she's smart, she's beautiful, she's funny, she's a big old scaredy cat. if you creep up from behind her she'll jump out of her skin. >> she seems to have drawn significant components of her story from pop culture. >> reporter: but remember liz seccuro? the survivor of a sexual assault in 1984? she thinks jackie drew inspiration from at least one non-fiction story -- hers. you believe she stole your story. >> yeah. absolutely, 100%. >> reporter: nicole eramo will go toe-to-toe with a media titan -- "rolling stone." >> i think that the evidence is clear, "rolling stone" acted with malice disregard for the truth. >> reporter: eramo will need to prove "rolling stone" published its article with reckless disregard for the truth. her lawyers pointing out that the editors' own fact-checkers raised issues before the story went to print. and what do they hold up as the proverbial exhibit "a"? that image of the dean that appeared in the article. so this is the original photo of you. and then this is the picture that appeared in "rolling stone"? >> yes. >> reporter: what do you see when you see this picture? >> my husband and i call it the devil picture 'cause i look evil. it looks like i'm completely indifferent to this young woman crying in my office, which is a complete mischaracterization of the type of person that i am. >> reporter: "rolling stone" called it a photo illustration. but it turns out, even their own fact-checker flagged it, asking, "too mean?" >> we don't have to look any further than what the fact-checker at "rolling stone" first thought when she saw that illustration. "is this too mean?" and that was her initial reaction. >> reporter: "20/20" requested an interview with sabrina rubin erdley. she declined. but we have her on tape nevertheless. in this never before seen deposition, we're hearing from eardley for the first time -- being questioned, under oath by eramo's lawyers. >> ms. erdely, do you believe that jackie was actually gang raped, knowing what you know now? >> i have no way of knowing. >> do you have any belief, whatsoever, as to whether she was or was not gang raped? >> i couldn't possibly speculate. it never occurred to me that jackie was fabricating the story. >> jackie told you that she was raped by seven men. is that correct? >> yes. >> did that cause any red flags in your mind? >> no. i knew, prior to publication, that jackie had originally -- when she originally talked about her assault, she talked about it as being an oral assault by five different men, but she had told her -- that's something she told her roommate, rachel. but rachel told me, as jackie became more comfortable with the details of her assault, she came forward with the truth, which was that it actually had been seven men and it was vaginal assault. she proved to be credible in so many different ways. she was able to furnish me with a lot of different pieces of evidence to back up what she was saying. >> reporter: and here is erdley's response to why she didn't speak with ryan duffin before the article came out. >> what steps did you take to verify that mr. duffin actually wasn't willing to speak with you, other than having jackie tell you so? >> jackie, at that point, was a -- i took her as a very credible source. and i took her at her word that he did not want to speak. >> reporter: but the decision to trust jackie in the first place is evidently a painful one. >> why do these questions upset you? >> because, because it just -- it brings me back to the time, after i realized, you know, i had full faith in jackie and in her story. and discovering that, that she had misled me, or had omitted information, it was, it was, it was just devastating. >> reporter: while "rolling stone" admits they made mistakes, they defend their portrayal of the uva administration, pointing to the results of that federal investigation into how the university handled sexual assaults. the government concluding at times the school failed to "promptly and equitably" respond to complaints. in a statement given to abc news, "rolling stone" says in part, "the depiction of dean eramo in the article was balanced and described the challenges of her role. we now look forward to the jury's decision in this case." one of the main reasons "rolling stone" says it focused on uva to begin with was because there was already a federal investigation into how the university of virginia handled sexual assault cases on campus. do you think there was a problem? >> it's certainly an issue that we've struggled with, but it is one that we were desperately trying to get better at. >> reporter: "rolling stone" in fact argues that their portrayal of you is supported by the office of civil rights report that concluded that uva, including you, dean eramo, violated title ix and created a hostile environment for victims of sexual assault at uva. >> obviously i don't agree with that account. i think we were doing the best we could in a very difficult climate. >> reporter: could you have done better? >> i think everybody can improve. and i think we were trying to improve. >> reporter: but here's a fact mentioned in "rolling stone" that eramo can't dispute. during her tenure as associate dean, not a single student was ever expelled for sexual assault. can you understand how that may make some people think that uva did not take sexual assaults on campus seriously enough? >> i can certainly see how some people could make that leap, but i just know what i was trying to do every day. and we were taking it very seriously from my position. >> reporter: "20/20" did ask the university to participate in the story, but it declined. since the federal investigation concluded in 2015, they are in compliance with title ix guidelines. as of 2017, the federal government continues to monitor the university. in the wake of the scandal, eramo is still employed at uva. but she's no longer the associate dean of students. >> i now work in the vice president for student affairs office for doing -- for more of an administrative role. so i don't work with students as often. >> reporter: i see you're emotional saying that. >> it's difficult. it's -- you know, it's not necessarily my passion. it's been a very difficult adjustment to be in a different role and not -- not have the privilege to be with students in that time of need. >> reporter: coming up -- two years and no word from jackie. until now. essential for him, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an "unjection™". xeljanz xr. a once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. xeljanz xr can reduce pain, swelling and joint damage, even without methotrexate. xeljanz xr can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal infections, lymphoma and other cancers have happened. don't start xeljanz xr if you have an infection. tears in the stomach or intestines, low blood cell counts and higher liver tests and cholesterol levels have happened. your doctor should perform blood tests before you start and while taking xeljanz xr, and monitor certain liver tests. tell your doctor if you were in a region where fungal infections are common and if you have had tb, hepatitis b or c, or are prone to infections. needles. fine for some. but for you, one pill a day may provide symptom relief. ask your doctor about xeljanz xr. an "unjection™". buy one take one is back starat olive garden. come in for a fan favorite like smoked mozzarella chicken here and leave with a great meal too. buy one take one. hurry in, it's only for a limited time. at olive garden. getwith the cricketown unlimited 2 plan.less, two lines of unlimited data for $80/mo. plus, get 2 smartphones free, when you switch. all on a network that covers over 99% of americans. cricket wireless. something to smile about. ♪ hey! ♪ bee to hive to the comb ♪ combing that honey ♪ into some gold ♪ put in the good and the good will grow ♪ ♪ good goes around and around and around hey! ♪ ♪ good goes around and around. hey! ♪ with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis? 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we asked, but she didn't respond to our request for an interview. was there any question in your mind that jackie had been sexually assaulted? >> i absolutely believed it. >> reporter: and continued to believe it. >> i don't think anything happened to her on september 28th. however, that does not mean that nothing happened to her before that would've prompted her to create a story like this. and i've resolved myself to realize that i never will know. >> reporter: ryan duffin's trust, just part of the collateral damage for those who feel they were caught in jackie's web. are you a more skeptical person now than you were before? >> absolutely. i think that's one of the takeaways from this story, right? people were so quick to shut down people who were actually being critical of the article, when those people ended up being right. >> i only have the one copy, which i thought would be sort of a commemorative copy of a piece that changed the way we all look at sexual violence and now it is a painful reminder. >> reporter: sexual assault survivor liz seccuro, now an advocate for victim's rights. >> there are a lot of people who want to turn this into, "women lie about rape all the time." now they just have a much bigger platform. >> reporter: because false reporting of sexual assault is extremely rare. >> it's extraordinarily rare. >> reporter: how big of a setback was this to your cause? >> here could have been a piece that changed the way americans look at the epidemic of campus sexual assault. because there is an epidemic of campus sexual assault. and in 9,000 keystrokes, we were done. weren't we? >> reporter: an alarming statistic buried in the fallout. almost 1 in 5 women will be sexually assaulted while in college. >> "rolling stone" believed the story to be true at the time they published it. >> reporter: as for the trial and civil lawsuit filed by dean eramo -- what is jackie saying now? >> we're looking forward to having jackie on the stand and hearing from her just like the rest of america. >> reporter: is there a villain in this story? >> i don't think so. i think everybody loses. >> at that trial, the jury ruled partly in favor of dean and "rolling stone" later settled. >> the jury heard excerpts from her deposition testimony. the fraternity named in the story, also suing and settled with "rolling stone". >> closing the door on a damaging chapter in the magazine's history and that of uva. >> that's our show tonight. >> thanks for watching. we hope you have a great labor day weekend. good night. c san francisco shatters an all-time record as sizzling heat grips the entire bay area and it is not over yet. is not over yet. live team coverage ♪ it's time for the biggest sale of the year is not over yet. live team coverage with the new sleep number 360 smart bed. it senses your every move and automatically adjusts on both sides to keep you effortlessly comfortable. and snoring... does your bed do that? 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