UPDATE 12/13: Police say the suspect in the rape of a Kansas State University student has been removed from campus.
ORIGINAL STORY:
Kansas State University is investigating a report of a sexual assault on campus, according to a release sent out by the university.
On Friday, A female student reported she was assaulted in a campus dorm. The alleged assault occurred on Sunday, Dec. 4.
No arrests have been made in the investigation and the release says "It can be assumed that conditions may exist that pose a continuing threat to the community."
KState sent out this alert after a report of an on-campus dorm rape. Reaction from the Wildcat community tonight at 10 on @41actionnews pic.twitter.com/x9JYkLElMP
— Brian Abel (@BrianAbelTV) December 11, 2016
The University and Kansas State Police were unreachable for comment Saturday night.
Just two days before Friday’s report, KSU police took two sexual battery reports from incidences an hour apart in late September.
Some in the Wildcat community were shocked by the developments.
“Oh my gosh," said 2011 Kansas State University graduate Sarah Woodruff. “It’s terrible if that’s happening at K-State. You think it’s a safe place to be and it’s not I guess apparently.”
“It’s surprising just because when we were there it seemed like a pretty safe campus,” said a 2008 Kansas State University graduate.
The latest sexual assault claims come as Kansas State faces multiple Title IX lawsuits and investigations.
Students Sara Weckhorst and Tessa Farmer filed civil rights lawsuits in April, claiming the University created a hostile learning environment for victims.
Just two weeks ago a third, former student sued Kansas State. Crystal Stroup was added to Weckhorst’s lawsuit, claiming that the school’s failure to properly investigate Weckhorst’s rape case allowed the same suspect to rape her. Former student Jared Gihring was charged with rape and sodomy in July.
Additionally, the two federal lawsuits are part of four federal Title IX investigations of K-State by the departments of Justice and Education.
Crimes reported on K-State campus.
According to campus crime statistics, 16 rapes were reported in 2014 with another 10 reported in 2015. Ten of those rapes were off-campus in those two years.
Students Saturday night, both current and former, brushed aside assertions that Kansas State has a rape problem.
“I don’t think it’s a fear of a problem on campus,” said Kansas State junior Anna Jackson. “I think people feel more comfortable to let it out that they were sexually assaulted which I think is a good thing.”
“I think you’re going to run into those problems at all campuses, not just K-State so singling out K-State is not the way to go about it,” said a 2008 graduate.
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Brian Abel can be reached at brian.abel@kshb.com.
