A student reported that she was sexually assaulted in her room in Baits I Residence Hall yesterday at about 11 a.m., according to a crime alert sent by the University’s Department of Public Safety last night.
The suspect in the sexual assault is a “visiting acquaintance” of the survivor, according to the alert.
DPS spokeswoman Diane Brown said in an interview last night that the suspect did not forcibly enter the survivor’s room. At the time, Brown said there was no further information on the nature of the assault.
The survivor provided a description of the suspect, and Brown said DPS officials are working to identify him. The suspect is described in the crime alert as being a light-skinned black man in his 20s with an “average build.”
Brown said both DPS and Housing Security officers will continue to be “vigilant” when patrolling the area.
However, LSA freshman Alim Leung, a Baits I resident, said she is concerned DPS officers do not sufficiently patrol the residence hall.
“Definitely there could be more DPS around here,” Leung said. “… I’m here late, and I see one police officer every few hours.”
LSA freshman Ryan Richmond, also a resident of Baits I, said it is disconcerting that the incident occurred in his residence hall.
“It’s a little scary that there’s somebody out there that would do that,” Richmond said.
Richmond added that he is confused as to why DPS officers are unable to find the suspect of the sexual assault considering he is an “acquaintance” of the survivor.
LSA junior Breanna Couturier, another Baits I resident, said she was surprised by the incident because she thought most major crimes that have been reported have occurred on Central Campus. But Couturier added that because the suspect was a “visiting acquaintance,” she is not particularly concerned for her safety.
“I still feel pretty safe here,” Couturier said. “My feeling about the safety might have been different if it wasn’t somebody that she personally knew that was visiting her.”
— Daily Staff Reporter Josh Qian contributed to this report.