Sexual Assault Reported At UT-Austin

NORTH AUSTIN, TX — A male student attending the University of Texas at Austin reported being sexually assaulted on campus Wednesday night, according to police.

UT-Austin police issued an advisory alerting to the incident that occurred April 18 at 8:45 p.m. The student called 911 to report having been sexually assaulted at Bellmont Hall by an unknown attacker while using a restroom at around 8:15 p.m., according to police.

The victim identified his attacker as a white man possibly wearing glasses, and who wore tan pants and brown or gray hiking boots. The victim said the attacker was beyond his teen years.

Anyone who may have seen something connected to the case or who may have spotted the suspect are urged to call 911. Police have since bolstered patrols in the area, and an investigation into the matter continues.

Bellmont Hall is a bit off the beaten path, comprising several floors located within a building abutting the football stadium south of Dean Keeton. Among the offerings there are cardiovascular Training; dance; martial arts; squash; weight training; volleyball; indoor soccer; dodgeball; badminton. There is a multipurpose room there as well as a women's locker room that includes a dry sauna and showers.

As Patch reported on the murder of freshman Haruka Weiser two years ago, a person working for an athletics department at the stadium site said added surveillance cameras were added by the university only after repeated demands from staff just months before the student was killed. He told Patch the area is poorly lighted, yielding the frightening prospect of walking to one's car in the evening to reach home — even for him, he noted, a strapping young man standing more than six feet tall.

The dancing major was killed by a homeless youth along a darkened stretch of Waller Creek running through campus, not far from where this week's sexual assault occurred, as she walked back to her dorm after a night class. Campus police vowed to implement a bolstered police presence in the wake of that tragedy, just like they have after the recent sexual assault.

Police urged any student feeling unsafe about walking along campus alone to use the SURE Ride program reached at sureride@austin.utexas.edu for a free ride. Another option is SURE Walk which dispatches another student to walk with by calling (512) 232-9255. At any time, those feeling unsafe can call the non-emergency number at the UT Police Department, and an officer will be sent in accompanying the student to his or her destination. That non-emergency line is (512) 471-4441, ext. 9.

Bellmont Hall is located within a building adjacent to the football stadium, apart from the main campus

Bellmont Hall on a typical afternoon, the space easily accessible from a parking lot entrance on the north side

>>> Photos by Tony Cantú including top image showing main entrance leading to Bellmont Hall photographed one day after the reported sexual assault on a Thursday afternoon