Oakland University Explains Sexual Assault Spike as Reporting Change

Oakland University police are downplaying reports of a recent spike in sexual assaults on the Rochester campus, saying that recent reporting changes that allow for anonymous reporting make assaults seem more prevalent than they really are.

The federal Clery Act was amended in 2014 to be more inclusive and allow anonymous reporting. As a result, the university declared four times as many sexual assault incidents in 2014 than in either of the prior two years, university Police Chief Mark Gordon told The Oakland Press.

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In the required Annual Security and Fire Safety Report released earlier this month, Oakland University reported three sexual assaults in both 2012 and 2013, but 13 in 2014.

Six of the 13 sexual assaults reported on the campus last year were anonymous reports, he said.

“There was a feeling there were more sexual assaults occurring than what was being reported,” Gordon said. “(Thirteen) is still an increase, but six is nearly half of the reports.

“Oakland University continues to be a very safe campus.”

Even so, the university has received two sexual assault reports this semester. Gordon said police were forced to drop their investigation in the first incident, which occurred in early September, after the victim declined to identify her alleged attacker.

This week, university police said a female student was raped in a residence hall sometime between 1 and 2 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 8, after a meeting on the social networking site Tinder.

The suspect isn’t a student at the school. He is believed to be a Hispanic male, approximately 20 years old, standing 6 feet tall and weighing between 160 and 180 pounds. He has dark brown hair.

Anyone with information is asked to call Oakland University police at (248) 370-3331. Anonymous tips can be left at www.oupolice.com/tip.

Oakland University numbers in the recently released security report were consistent with other universities its size, according to Gordon.

Oakland University didn’t differentiate between fondling and forcible rape, which all schools receiving federal aid will be required to due in 2015 under the Clery Act, but Gordon told The Oakland Press that five of the 13 incidents reported in 2014 involved fondling and two were confirmed rape cases. The other six reports were made anonymously.

Read the full report below.

» Photo via Oakland University Facebook page