Two more sexual assaults at the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign have been reported to the police over the Presidents Day weekend. However, the school has not issued safety alerts to its campus community even after several attacks earlier this month.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the sexual assaults were said to have taken place last Friday and Saturday. A woman reported that she was attacked by a man at the Kappa Alpha Theta house around 9 p.m. on Friday.
On Saturday, a student reported about being sexually assaulted at a campus residence hall. The University of Illinois police crime log and blotter revealed that the attack happened about 6:45 p.m.
There were at least three other sexual assault reports that the campus police received this month. UIPD spokesperson Patrick Wade did not discuss the status of the investigations. He did, however, say that a lot of factors influenced the decision to notify the campus community about sexual assaults.
Wade noted that the threat to public safety is lessened when the police department is able to identify, interview and arrest an offender. There are some survivors, though, who request that they do not contact anyone or not go through an investigation. It is during these times that they issue warnings since the assailant is still a public safety concern.
Earlier this month, NBC Chicago reported that the University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign police department issued a letter about sexual assaults after three cases were reported within about a week. The campus police used mass emails to send out the public safety notices on Feb. 6, Feb. 9 and Feb. 12.
The letter stated how sexual assault reports are handled by campus officials and also addressed concerns about what the University of Illinois is doing to prevent such attacks. It also shared what types of services and support are available for students.
