Investigation of sexual assaults of Goucher students not yet a police matter

http://www.explorebaltimorecounty.com/news/5836/sexual-assaults-investigation-not-yet-police-matter/

College president appeals for victims to come forward
By Bryan P. Searsbsears@patuxent.com
Posted 12/15/08
The investigations of three possible incidents of sexual assaults of students at Goucher College are stymied as officials wait for victims or witnesses to come forward.Officials at the private school in Towson learned last week of three possible incidents of what they called “non-stranger sexual assaults,” possibly involving so-called date-rape drugs. The officials know the names of alleged victims but say they cannot interview the purported vicitms because of privacy concerns.“It’s a tricky situation,” said Kristen Keener, a Goucher College spokeswoman.“We can’t go to anybody who is an alleged victim because it is their prerogative” to come to authorities, Keener said. “The college would be very glad to get (information about the incidents) and get these victims any kind of counseling they need.”A student at the college reported to college public safety officials last week the alleged incidents that may have involved a date-rape drug, Keener said.The student did not have first-hand knowledge of the incidents but had heard about them, Keener said.It is not known when the incidents occurred because college officials learned about them third-hand. Keener said the belief is they happened recently.Goucher President Sanford Unger sent nearly 1,500 undergraduate students an e-mail alert Dec. 12 containing an appeal to students who were either victims or know something about the alleged incidents to come forward.“The investigation cannot move forward without that information,” said Keener, adding that the investigation was so being handled so far by the college, and not Baltimore County police.“It will have to remain so until someone comes forward,” she said.A county police spokesman, Cpl. Mike Hill, confirmed that his agency is not yet investigating the alleged incidents.“This is all third-hand information at this point,” Hill said. “We have not been contacted whatsoever; we have no investigations and no victims.”Keener said that, despite a lack of direct information, the college is taking the reports seriously and has no reason to believe they are a hoax.“Regardless, the college will always err on the side of student safety,” she said.