No progress has been made with any of the seven forcible sex offenses reported in April, according to Vice President of Public Safety Maureen Rush. The total number of offenses, five of which were classified as rape, is half the number reported in all of 2009.
Several factors determine if a sexual offense case goes to trial, including whether the perpetrator has been arrested, Rush said.
She cited as an example an indecent sexual assault in which a woman was “patted on the bottom” and no arrest was made.
According to Rush, inappropriate patting “happens from time to time.”
“It’s unfortunate. We’ve had situations where we staked out someone hitting in the same area at the same time and same day of the week. It turned out to be a student at another university in the area. Strange people do strange things,” she explained.
Rush confirmed, however, that April’s indecent sex assaults were isolated incidents.
She also said that victims often do not wish to prosecute, but added “that doesn’t stop [DPS] from still supporting [the victims].”
For an article printed May 13, Rush told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the five rapes were acquaintance rapes, occurring between individuals known to one another.
“Rape is rape whether it’s an acquaintance or stranger,” she said.
If the offender is a stranger, there’s a heightened sense of alarm in the community, “but acquaintance rapes across the country are probably one of the most under reported crimes,” Rush continued.
“People drink and blame themselves, and think they gave the green light,” despite repeated efforts from DPS throughout New Student Orientation to tell students they are unable to consent to sex when drunk, Rush said.
“If there’s still chemistry when you’re both sober, go for it.”
The disciplinary action for rape, she explained, can mean a removal from the community whether or not the case proceeds to criminal justice. If “there’s an awareness of who the perpetrator was” the information is “turned over to the Office of Student Conduct.”
One of the rapes reported in April had gone unreported since the incident’s occurrence in 2008. Although the criminal justice system becomes a less viable option the longer a victim waits to report a rape, the fact that the report was made at all is positive, according to DPS.
“Not always, but generally there’s something that makes them want to visit that front, like therapy. In a case like this they want to move on, and we support them,” Rush said.
The volume of offenses is at times hard to reconcile, Rush admitted. “On the one hand we want people to feel they can report sexual assault and know they can get the resources needed. On the other hand, any crime is too much crime.”
Rush said that DPS needs to “put out the dangers” of sexual assault and also make known the resources for support that are out there adding that sexual assault is “one of the hardest crimes to balance for everybody.”
DPS spokeswoman Stef Cella said two of the incidents were currently being investigated, and therefore could not comment on them. Rush explained that all sexual assault on campus is “primarily investigated by the Philadelphia Special Victims Unit but assisted by Penn Police and [DPS’s] Special Services Department.”
She also emphasized the availability of DPS safety resources throughout the year.
“You see just as many Allied Barton security guards and Penn Police in the summer as in the fall. It’s even more important if you’re by yourself — go up to them and say ‘walk me to 43rd and Walnut.’”
She added that students are “paying for [security] anyway, so we want to utilize that opportunity to make sure [they] stay safe.”
