MU sexual assault investigation continues
Police continue to investigate a reported sexual assault Friday night on the University of Missouri’s campus.
According to the university, the police department received the report around 11p.m. Friday and said the incident happened between 8 and 8:30 p.m.
MU police in an MU Alert said the victim was forced into a vehicle near Wilson Avenue and the 500 block of College Avenue. Police described four assailants. One was college age wearing a blue sweatshirt and sunglasses and had light-colored eyebrows and dark hair.
The van was dark in color with seats turned to face backward in the back.
ABC 17 News has asked for more information regarding the report, but the MU Police Department said it could not give any other details, citing the ongoing investigation.
MU junior Maria Patino said it concerns her that the incident happened early in the evening.
“Usually if it’s past 11 I’ll have someone walking home with me,” Patinso said. “But usually if it’s 8 o’clock I believe I can walk around by myself, and be fine, but now seeing that, that doesn’t make me feel safer.”
Another junior, Bridget Glascott, said she thinks the university has done a better job communicating about these situations than in the past. She still doesn’t feel completely safe though.
“Just being a woman on campus I’m more on edge in general no matter what if i was getting a text like that or not,” Glascott said.
University spokeswoman Liz McCune said the university has several resources for sexual assault victims including legal options, counseling and medical services.
“Our role is to make sure they’re aware of of what those resources are, and it’s really an individual decision on how they move forward,” McCune said.
Boone County assistant prosecutor Jessica Caldera said it is important for these crimes to be reported to law enforcement. Crimes that are not reported cannot be prosecuted, she said.
However, the process can be intimidating and takes time.
” I think the biggest thing is that our process can take a year or more time from the actual incident to actually be resolved a a plea,” Caldera said.
