2008 Woodie Awards
Alleged rape still under question
UAPD
Jack Willems
Issue date: 1/28/08 Section: News
An acquaintance rape, reported to have occurred between 2 a.m. and 11 a.m. Jan. 19 at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house, is being investigated by the UA Police Department.
No arrests have been made so far, said Lt. Gary Crain, UAPD public information officer.
The alleged victim received no lasting injuries, he said, and there is a dispute between whether there was consent, with the alleged victim insisting there was no consent and the suspect insisting there was consent. Both people, neither of whom are UA students, were under the influence of alcohol when the alleged rape took place, Crain said.
"When the investigation is complete, it will be up to the prosecuting attorney to determine when to bring charges," Crain said.
Last year, three cases of rape were reported to the UAPD, Crain said. One of those cases was determined to be unfounded, meaning no crime occurred in the manner that it was reported, and the prosecutor declined to pursue the other two cases, he said.
Three accounts of rape in 2006 and zero in 2005 were reported to UAPD, according to the 2006 cleary report.
An FBI study found that reports of forcible rape went down by 6.1 percent nationwide, with the largest decrease in cities with more than a million residents, where rapes decreased by more than 14 percent, according to the FBI Web site.
To reduce the risk of rape, students should avoid going out by themselves, know their limits when it comes to alcohol, communicate their sexual limits to others, use their own transportation to and from social gatherings or dates, stay on well-lit paths and use common sense, said Mary Wyandt-Hiebert, director of STAR Central at the Walker Health Center.
Studies have indicated that up to 90 percent of rapes among college students involve alcohol, and it is better to wait for everyone to be sober before asking for consent to have sex, she said.
"It's not okay to have sex with someone who is under the influence," Wyandt-Hiebert said. "In fact, it is classified as rape when sexually taking advantage of someone who is under the influence of any substance."
No arrests have been made so far, said Lt. Gary Crain, UAPD public information officer.
The alleged victim received no lasting injuries, he said, and there is a dispute between whether there was consent, with the alleged victim insisting there was no consent and the suspect insisting there was consent. Both people, neither of whom are UA students, were under the influence of alcohol when the alleged rape took place, Crain said.
"When the investigation is complete, it will be up to the prosecuting attorney to determine when to bring charges," Crain said.
Last year, three cases of rape were reported to the UAPD, Crain said. One of those cases was determined to be unfounded, meaning no crime occurred in the manner that it was reported, and the prosecutor declined to pursue the other two cases, he said.
Three accounts of rape in 2006 and zero in 2005 were reported to UAPD, according to the 2006 cleary report.
An FBI study found that reports of forcible rape went down by 6.1 percent nationwide, with the largest decrease in cities with more than a million residents, where rapes decreased by more than 14 percent, according to the FBI Web site.
To reduce the risk of rape, students should avoid going out by themselves, know their limits when it comes to alcohol, communicate their sexual limits to others, use their own transportation to and from social gatherings or dates, stay on well-lit paths and use common sense, said Mary Wyandt-Hiebert, director of STAR Central at the Walker Health Center.
Studies have indicated that up to 90 percent of rapes among college students involve alcohol, and it is better to wait for everyone to be sober before asking for consent to have sex, she said.
"It's not okay to have sex with someone who is under the influence," Wyandt-Hiebert said. "In fact, it is classified as rape when sexually taking advantage of someone who is under the influence of any substance."
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