Sexual battery was reported as having been committed against a CSUN student late Friday night on the first floor of the G-9 parking structure, a university police department crime alert shows.
And an unknown suspect was arrested for the rape of a student, which was reported as having been committed on Sept. 6 between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., campus crime logs indicate.
Chief of Police Anne P. Glavin and Christina Villalobos, assistant to the chief of police and community relations officer, confirm that the rape occurred in a campus parking lot.
Crimes logs also show that sexual batteries committed against students on campus were reported on Sept. 11 and Aug. 30.
Campus police are investigating the reports of sexual battery. While the report of rape by force was cleared by arrest, the suspect is no longer in custody.
Villalobos said the rape victim and the suspect, who were CSUN students, were in a former relationship.
Because police knew the identity of the suspect, there was no need to release a campus media alert, Villalobos said.
When the identity of a suspect is unknown, a campus crime alert is released because “there’s no way of knowing who it is or what happened,” Villalobos said.
Chief of Police Anne P. Glavin said the exact location of the rape wasn’t released because it was not an issue of public safety.
“This is not a danger to other students because the suspect wasn’t coming to CSUN to target other women,” Glavin said.
“The two people involved were in a prior dating relationship,” Glavin said.
A charge of rape by force and campus disciplinary action could be brought to bear against the suspect. Under the California Education Code, the suspect could face disciplinary action if the victim decides not to pursue criminal prosecution. Disciplinary action could be a suspension or dismissal from CSUN.
Police couldn’t release additional information regarding the rape.
“We have the duty to protect the victim’s identity and by releasing suspect information, it could inadvertently jeopardize the case and break confidentiality,” Villalobos said.
Villalobos said, “Releasing such information could reveal the identity of the victim, and since she has requested confidentiality, we are unable to release this information.”
Glavin said more information would’ve been released if the suspect were a stranger to the victim.
When it comes to informing people about what happens on campus, “I think we do a pretty good job,” Glavin said.
This case would qualify as an acquaintance rape, which involves “using physical force, emotional bargaining, blackmail, or mind games to force sexual intercourse, fondling, kissing, holding … any sexual contact forced on you by a stranger or someone you know. If it is against your will, it is against the law,” the Women’s Coalition of St. Croix Web site shows.
Data from the Rape Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN) Web site indicates that 73 percent of perpetrators of sexual assault know the victims, 38 percent are their friends or acquaintances and 28 percent know them intimately.
Someone is sexually assaulted in America every two and a half minutes, the Web site shows.
Women can attend a class, which costs $10 for students and $20 for everyone else, to learn how to defend themselves in rape situations via the RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) Systems Self Defense Program.
To register for the class, contact the Crime Prevention and Community Relations Unit (818) 677-7922.
CSUN student Courtney Dunagan is one of the people who reported the indecent exposure incident in parking lot G4 on Sept. 11. Despite the incident, Dunagan still feels safe on campus.
The extent of any additional information that was released was that the rape had occurred in a campus parking lot.
There was also an incident of indecent exposure on campus a while ago, Glavin said.
“That’s really the first thing I’ve seen, but it wasn’t threatening,” Glavin said. “It was just really gross.”
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