Though most of the incidents were reported to police and publicly announced during the past two weeks, one incident of sexual assault was originally reported Feb. 18 and not publicly announced until March 18.
The announcements are published to comply with the Jeanne Clery Act, which mandates that colleges and universities receiving financial aid publish information about crimes that are deemed “an ongoing or continuing serious threat to the university community.”
Virginia Tech President Timothy Sands addressed the incidents in a written statement to the Virginia Tech community Wednesday.
“Although increased reporting does not necessarily indicate an increase in crime, these reports serve to remind us that we are not immune from criminal activity,” Sands wrote.
“National statistics indicate that the safer a community feels, the more readily an individual will report a crime. This may mean more public notices and I am fine with that,” he continued.
Of five incidents that included information about whether the victim and perpetrator were acquainted, all but one situation involved students that were previously acquainted. That incident occurred in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina during spring break and was not a university-sponsored or sanctioned event. According to the police notification, the victim reported they may have been drugged.
Three of the reported incidents were sexual assaults, while the other three were specified as sexual batteries.
Three of the reported incidents were sexual assaults, while the other three were specified as sexual batteries.
In the Virginia Tech’s 2015 Jeanne Clery Act Report, sexual battery is the “intentional touching of another person’s intimate parts without the person’s consent, or other intentional sexual contact with another person without that person’s consent.” Sexual assault is defined as the “actual or attempted sexual contact with another person without that person’s consent.”
