Two MU students report rapes near campus

Two MU students said they were raped near campus over the weekend.

According to Clery reports from MU police, the first incident happened Sunday near the 400 block of south College Avenue.

The student said she was attacked between 1:00 and 1:30 in the morning. The victim is working with Columbia police. The only description is a white man with brown hair.

The second student said she was raped off Anthony Street.

On Wednesday, the only suspect description in this case is that it was a man she didn’t know.

Both students worked with the school’s Title IX investigator.

In the past two weeks three students have reported rapes to the coordinator.

New this school year in an attempt to better handle sexual assaults on campus MU hired a full time coordinator, in addition to raising awareness about where to report those crimes.

“What’s important to realize is just because we have seen these three Clery releases in the past two weeks that does not mean there are more incidences, rather there’s more reporting,” said Capt. Brian Weimer with the University of Missouri police department.

Christian Basi the spokesperson for MU told ABC 17 News since June there have been six reports to the Title IX coordinator.

Since this is the first year with an office there are no numbers to compare to years past.

Until this year, there was a part time coordinator who would report to the Equity office.

Basi said he hopes the added awareness to having a Title IX office is helping students feel comfortable reporting sexual assaults.

“That is one more resource we have really pushed out to the students to make sure they are aware, and that office exists if you want to make sure you get the help you need but don’t want to go to law enforcement,” said Weimer.

Anyone with information in these sexual assault cases is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 573-875-8477.

You may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,500 if your information leads to an arrest.