Employee at Stanford University Dragged Into Basement in Broad Daylight and Raped: Report
An employee of California’s Stanford University was reportedly raped Friday after being dragged into a basement.
Campus police said the incident was reported by a “mandated reporter” — an individual legally required to contact authorities in cases of suspected violence. The woman herself has not spoken to police, according to an alert from the Stanford Department of Public Safety.
The alert said the incident took place at about 12:30 p.m. and was reported about two and a half hours later.
“As required by law, a mandated reporter notified Stanford DPS that an adult female reported having been sexually assaulted by an adult male. The victim indicated she was working in her office when a man came into her office, grabbed her, dragged her into a basement, and raped her,” the alert said.
The alert said that other than the suspect being classified as an adult male, investigators have no further information on the perpetrator.
Stanford’s public safety unit also said in the alert that it was not told in which building the incident took place.
A follow-up statement on Saturday asked the campus community for any help it could provide.
It also explained that in such cases, publicly available information might be scant because investigators can have very little to work with at first.
“The initial report to DPS may include very little information. It may not include the name of the person who originally reported the incident, the location, the name of a suspect, or any other identifying information.
“This is why some alerts to the community, in turn, may have very little information,” the statement said.
The report said victims react to sexual assault in different ways.
“There are a variety of reasons why a victim may not disclose information about a crime. Many victims need time to process what occurred; for some, the trauma of a crime impacts their ability to recall information. Currently, the victim who reported being assaulted yesterday has chosen not to share information about the crime with the police at this time,” the statement said.
The statement also reminded students to take measures to ensure their safety on campus, including an admonition to be aware of their surroundings and carry a cell phone to report any concerns.
Some students wanted a more forthcoming approach.
“I do wish they were talking about how they were addressing building security and making sure this doesn’t happen again. That would be nice,” graduate student Meena Chakraborty told KTVU-TV.
“I have a pretty far class and I don’t have a bike, so I have been walking in the dark by myself,” freshman Stephanie Boczek said told the station. “I did that twice, and I’m definitely going to stop doing that.”
The incident was the second reported attack in the fall term, according to KTVU. In August, a woman told a mandatory reporter that she’d been grabbed in a parking lot and raped near the Wilber Hall dormitory.
That victim also did not file a report directly with campus police.
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