The Associated Press

MOREHEAD, Ky. - Five current and former Morehead State University students face felony sexual assault charges stemming from a campus dormitory incident in September that sparked student protests over the school's response.

A grand jury last week indicted the five men on a single charge each of using a minor in a sexual performance, which carries a penalty of 20 years to life in prison because the victim was injured, prosecutors said.

The indictments were announced in a news release from Rowan County Commonwealth's Attorney George W. Moore, but the indictments are sealed.

The alleged victim, a 17-year-old student who has since turned 18 and left school, had claimed she was gang raped in Waterfield Hall, the coed dorm where she lived, authorities have said.

Mr. Moore identified those indicted as Calvin Roach, Quinton Martindale, Jordan Tackett, Nathan Blackburn and Trevor Duncan. The men's ages and hometowns weren't given.

Mr. Blackburn said he wasn't aware of the indictment.

"I don't care," he told the Courier-Journal by phone from his Pikeville home. He said he left the school in the middle of last semester. "There's nothing that will come out of it. Nothing happened."

Morehead State President Ronald Eaglin did not acknowledge the Sept. 14 dorm incident publicly until early last month - after students held a candlelight vigil outside the dorm and the student newspaper, the Trail Blazer, reported on a state police investigation.