Few Va. Campus Sex Crimes Result in Arrests or Convictions

November 13, 2011 CS Staff

RICHMOND, Va. — Only seven cases of 62 reported sex crimes on Virginia college campuses from 2008-2010 resulted in an arrest or conviction, according to an analysis of seven schools in the state. This is partly because half the women who report the attacks decline to pursue charges.

The rate of arrests and convictions is well below the national and state average for reported sex crimes at large, the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. In 40 percent of the cases analyzed in Virginia, the victim, the alleged assailant or both had consumed alcohol.

A proposal that would change the way sex crimes are investigated on campus is scheduled to be heard by the State Crime Commission Wednesday, The Daily Progress reports. The measure is backed by Kathryn Russell, a former student at the University of Virginia, and her mother Susan.

Russell alleged she was raped in her dorm, but her assailant was found not guilty in an internal investigation on campus. The next year, he was accused of raping another student.

In a press release, Security on Campus Inc. (SOC) called for the Commission to support a version of the proposal that calls for mutual aid agreements between campus and local law enforcement. SOC also stated in the release that the wishes of adult sex crime survivors should be respected, so nothing in any mutual aid agreement should be construed in such a way as to disenfranchise them.

SOC also asked that the Commission not apply the provisions of the mutual aid agreement exclusively to students of the institution. “As demonstrated clearly by recent revelations involving allegations at Penn State, students of the institution are not the only victims of crime on campuses,” the release read.

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