On Monday, Jan. 7, the Department of Campus Safety (DCS) released a crime alert to staff, students and faculty regarding a series of four sexual assaults which took place on and near campus from October 2011 to May 2012.
The assaults occurred in Nagel Hall and the off campus Vista Lofts University Apartments on South University Boulevard. The suspect is the same person in each of the four crimes, and in each case is also believed to be someone the victims knew.

According to DCS Crime Prevention Sgt. Stephen Banet, DCS became aware of the crimes when one of the victims called Thursday, Jan. 3 and said she would like to make a report.

“The victims just now felt comfortable coming forward and reporting these situations,” said Banet.

Each of the victims was able to identify the suspect of the crimes for further investigation by DCS and the Denver Police Department (DPD). According to Banet, the suspect does have ties to DU.

The investigation of the crimes will be headed by the campus Title IX Department, or the Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity.

Banet said many of the circumstances surrounding these assaults are common for sexual assault crimes. Alcohol and date rape drugs, both of which are suspected in these incidents, are often factors in assault cases, he said.

“That’s why it’s critical that the victim of a sexual assault come forward and if they know the individual to tell us so we can help prevent it from happening,” said Banet.

Banet also said it is not unusual for victims to be assaulted by someone they know personally, as was the case in each of the four crimes reported Monday.

University Gender and Women’s Studies professor Lindsey Feitz said this is one of the most important trends of assault crimes for students to be made aware of.

“That’s the myth we need to work really hard to dispel,” she said, “that sexual assault crimes only come from strangers.”

Senior Amber Morse, the student president of Rape and Gender Education (RAGE), agreed.

“It’s really common that sexual assault will occur with someone you know- it can be your friend, your acquaintance or even your partner in a relationship,” said Morse.

Banet said DCS hoped to increase awareness of sexual assault crimes on campus by releasing the information in the Safety Alert, as well as encourage other possible victims to come forward.

“There’s a possibility that there could be other victims as well, and we wanted to open the door for them to come forward if they wished,” he said regarding the release of the crime alert on Monday.

However, Feitz said it is often very difficult for victims of sexual assault to tell others about what has happened to them.
“There is such an internalized stigma and shame,” she said. “its really common for survivors to think ‘I should have known better’ or ‘its my fault,’” she said.

Both Morse and Feitz said they wanted to see the university take additional steps in rape and gender violence awareness, especially because college campuses are more prone to assaults.

Feitz said lots of the responsibility to increase safety on campus falls on men.

“DU men could really be examples here,” she said, and suggested men on campus educate themselves and others about assault crimes. “I think a men’s conference could initiate an open dialogue and have men allies be a little more active, which is an area that is lacking.”

Morse also said there needed to be more information about available resources for women and victims made available by the university.

“I think that our awareness on campus is pretty low,” said Morse. She said the university should find ways to provide students with more information about on campus sexual assault resources, such as the Gender Violence Education and Support Services (GVESS) office located on campus.

Anyone with information regarding the reported incidents of sexual assault or anyone who may be victims themselves are encouraged to contact Campus Safety at 303-871-2334 or the campus Title IX office at 303-871-7436.

Updated, Jan. 24, 11:14 a.m. by Anita Balakrishnan: In the third paragraph, the date that a victim called DCS to report the crime was changed from Friday, Jan. 13 to Thursday, Jan. 3 to correct a copy-editing mistake.