- March 10th, 2006, 1:36 pm
#7979
From the WSET web site. I love the "It's the law" statement. 
Lynchburg, VA - It's the law. Colleges have to report certain crimes. Now, one campus safety group says Liberty University violated that law, by not properly handling a rape case.
The group "Security on Campus" has filed a complaint with the U-S Department of Education. But the university says it's done nothing wrong. In fact, it says it still isn’t sure a rape actually took place. The alleged victim says the school is ignoring her complaints.
Daniel Carter, Security on Campus - "We are asking the Department of Education to review Liberty's campus crime disclosures, to ensure that students are getting timely and accurate information about crime on the campus."
The group Security on Campus says it filed the complaint at the urging of several students. One claims she was raped on campus last April. She does not want us to say where and Campus Police did not report it.
Carter - "Any time a crime is brought to the attention of a campus police officer or other authority on campus, it becomes a reportable offense."
That's Federal law - so it can be available to the people on campus and the public, and will show up in national campus crime statistics. A Department of Education website shows Liberty reported one rape - back in 2002.
Carter - "No timely warning was ever issued, which is one of the Cleary act's requirements, to warn students about ongoing threats to their safety."
In a statement to ABC-13, the university says it did not report it because, quote, "It was first denied that any assault occurred and she did not change her story until many months later. As of this point, there has never been a sexual assault report done to L.U.P.D."
Campus police did take the student to the hospital. But she admits she did not file a report or get a rape test. She says she regrets that now. About the log itself, Security on Campus says students were not even able to access it, to see if the rape was reported.
Carter - "They were not able to access any crime log whatsoever."
The university says there was and is a log, but the person the students asked didn't know about it. They say all staff is now informed about the log and knows that everyone has access to it.
While we can't say where the alleged rape took place, that area of campus does NOT have security cameras, and the student says she wants that to change. Campus police say the area is well lit and patrolled.
- By jmclaughlin
- By ECC29
- By Purple Haize