John Cottingham, professor of philosophy at Reading University, is expected to face a civil action after he was acquitted this week of indecently assaulting two female students. The women alleged he had invited them to his study after a college garden party, then stripped and molested them following a conversation about whips, chains and the Marquis de Sade. The families of the students, one English and one American, said they were bringing the action to clear the women's names.