Francisco Sousa, a former San Diego State student arrested for sexual assault, confirmed to The Daily Aztec Tuesday that his suspension was lifted.

Sousa was suspended after he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at a party in December.

Following the accusations, SDSU Police sent a campus-wide email following up on an initial crime report regarding the assault. The email named Sousa and listed the charges against him.

The San Diego County District Attorney dropped the charges against Sousa in February.

He is now suing the university for publicly identifying him in the email.

“The story became international news, and it was very hard for my family to find out through the news,” Sousa said.  

By sending a campus-wide email and making a public announcement before the case closed, the university preemptively condemned him, Sousa’s attorney Domenic Lombardo said.

“He was, in effect, branded a threat to the campus community when that was as far from the truth as could possibly be imagined,” Lombardo said in an email to The Daily Aztec.

Sousa is suing SDSU for the emotional and financial distress he experienced after the email was sent out to students.  

It has been financially straining for him to hire an attorney while attending school as an international student, his attorney said. Money is not the only motivation behind his actions. Sousa said he also doesn’t want other students to be wrongly accused.

Sousa said false claims, like the ones levied against him, weaken the credibility of real sexual violence reports.

“We cannot forget that I’m not the only victim, actual rape victims are also affected by the girl’s lies,” Sousa said.

Sousa would like the school to send a campus-wide email to students regarding the conclusion of the case.

Since his suspension from SDSU, Sousa has continued his studies at another university and has no plans to return.

SDSU spokesman Greg Block said the university could not comment on Sousa’s suspension.