Saint Mary's issues security alert
By MYRA McGRIFF
Saint Mary's Editor
Saint Mary's Student Affairs office released an assault notice to campus Thursday afternoon over e-mail, notifying students, faculty and staff that three separate incidents of alleged sexual assault have been reported in the past week.
"Three Saint Mary's students have reported being assaulted," wrote Linda Timm, vice president of Student Affairs, in the e-mail. "All three students know the identity of their assailant. There were not stranger assaults. Two of the assaults did occur on campus, one occurred off-campus," wrote Timm.
Two out of the three alleged assaults were reported to campus security, according to the campus logbook The Observer obtained Thursday.
The first case was referred to the security office on March 29, and occurred in Regina Hall on Mar. 22 at 4:20 p.m. The alleged assailant was identified. The second case was reported on Mar. 25 at 8 p.m., and occurred on Cedar Street in South Bend. The alleged victim has also filed charges with the South Bend Police Department.
The third case has gone unreported to campus security as of Thursday, said Richard Clebeck, director of campus security. Clebeck told The Observer Wednesday a faculty member and a student reported the incident on behalf of the victim to an administrator at Saint Mary's.
It has been the practice of security and student affairs to notify the campus only when the assailant is unknown, Clebeck said. "When the identity of the assailant is known the danger is diminished," Clebeck said.
Timm advised students to report all cases of sexual assault to a friend, security officer, resident assistant, hall director, faculty member, counselor or campus minister, in addition to reporting the incident to campus security. She also encouraged students to seek medical attention should they be the victim of an attack.
"Reporting an incident of sexual assault is critically important," Timm wrote. "Even if your choice is not to pursue any kind of formal action, we want to be of assistance to you."
Timm could not be reached for further comment Thursday evening.
All News Stories for Friday, March 30, 2001
