UI student reports sex assault after learning of second incident

A University of Iowa student this week reported being sexually assaulted last semester after learning that her attacker committed another sexual assault this semester, according to warning email sent to the campus community.

The student went to UI staff on Wednesday with information that she was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance in a residence hall in the fall 2013 semester, according to the warning email. She and the acquaintance had been at an off-campus party together, and the acquaintance gave her a drink, she told administrators.

'She has no memory after consuming the drink,” according to the warning.

The student awoke the next morning with the acquaintance in her room, and she said she had been sexually assaulted while incapacitated.

She did not immediately report the assault, according to UI officials, but she received information that the same acquaintance committed another sexual assault in the spring 2014 semester.

The second victim hasn't reported the incident to UI officials, according to the email.

This week's timely warning is among about a dozen that have been issued to the campus community this year, representing an increase over previous years. UI officials say there are more warnings this year because they are sending out emails for more than just stranger sexual assaults and because more people are reporting sexual assault.

UI administrators received 45 reports of sexual assault or misconduct in 2013, up from 40 reports in 2012 and 33 reports in 2011, according to the Office of the Sexual Misconduct Response Coordinator.

Those reports can include everything from forced intercourse to non-consensual touching of a sexual nature involving a UI student. Those reports may or may not qualify as criminal violations, but - even if they do - victims don't always want police to investigate.

According to the warning emails, which have been revised to meet student demands that administrators stop 'victim blaming” and take a 'zero-tolerance” stance against sexual assault, victims are strongly encouraged to seek medical attention immediately.

'An examination does not obligate someone to any kind of investigation,” according to the revised emails. 'However, it allows evidence to be collected and preserved in the event you choose to authorize a criminal investigation at a later time.”

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