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Police investigate sexual assault cases

Abstract:
Athens-Clarke County Police say they are investigating a string of recent sexual assault cases. The investigation comes at the heels of a Friday television broadcast in which a female University student told WSB-TV Atlanta on camera that she was the victim of a "serial sexual predator....

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sam

posted 9/25/07 @ 8:29 AM EST

The University KNOWS and HAS KNOWN of sexual assaults on this campus and just off campus downtown. They tend to brush it UNDER the rug. DOn't want to report it as a crim e for the Cleary act.

I know of a girl who was assaulted in a similar fashion, woke up in a frat house having been sexually assaulted by a person she "knew" and had rejected....(also the last thing she remembers was him walking away from her table in a downtown bar.) The ATHENS pd and the CAMPUS pd argued just enough time over who had jurisdiction over the frat house to make the tracing of the drug impossible....and thus did nothing....and our beloved Dean of students' response when she had issues with a professor over missing an exam the day after the assault was to suggest she WITHDRAW from the university. She stayed....she persevered not allowing this coward of a man (the frat boy perpetrator) to take her education away from her. However, to this day I will no longer trust that the UNIVERSITY doesn't want to make victims like this disappear....How many girls leave? Its time to rise up women of this university and demand accountability, to prosecute and to insist on support from this school for these crimes.

P.S. To all you guys who think raping, sodomizing a woman who you have drugged is an okay thing to do--you disgust me. I do hope that justice will serve you one day. And...to you frat boys who protect brothers who behave this way....shame on you because by protecting them, you become a part of the crime and ruin the reputation of the entire fraternity system.
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Z

posted 9/25/07 @ 3:21 PM EST

Originally posted by

sam

 The University KNOWS and HAS KNOWN of sexual assaults on this campus and just off campus downtown. They tend to brush it UNDER the rug. DOn't want to report it as a crim e for the Cleary act.

I know of a girl who was assaulted in a similar fashion, woke up in a frat house having been sexually assaulted by a person she "knew" and had rejected....(also the last thing she remembers was him walking away from her table in a downtown bar.) The ATHENS pd and the CAMPUS pd argued just enough time over who had jurisdiction over the frat house to make the tracing of the drug impossible....and thus did nothing....and our beloved Dean of students' response when she had issues with a professor over missing an exam the day after the assault was to suggest she WITHDRAW from the university. She stayed....she persevered not allowing this coward of a man (the frat boy perpetrator) to take her education away from her. However, to this day I will no longer trust that the UNIVERSITY doesn't want to make victims like this disappear....How many girls leave? Its time to rise up women of this university and demand accountability, to prosecute and to insist on support from this school for these crimes.

P.S. To all you guys who think raping, sodomizing a woman who you have drugged is an okay thing to do--you disgust me. I do hope that justice will serve you one day. And...to you frat boys who protect brothers who behave this way....shame on you because by protecting them, you become a part of the crime and ruin the reputation of the entire fraternity system.


As a former police officer in Athens I have first hand knowledge of the UGA police changing titles on reports so that they wont show up in the paper or on the crime stats. Yes if there is a rape on campus reported its investigated but often times a third party will call on behalf of the victim and the police wont investigate anything unless the victim actually calls.
Date rape and hard drugs ARE A PROBLEM AT UGA but the UGA police refuses to address the hard drug problem on campus.
As a former police officer I would not let my daughter go to UGA after what I have seen here over the years, this is a nasty town full of drugs.
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proof?

posted 9/28/07 @ 1:59 PM EST

Originally posted by

sam

 The University KNOWS and HAS KNOWN of sexual assaults on this campus and just off campus downtown. They tend to brush it UNDER the rug. DOn't want to report it as a crim e for the Cleary act.

I know of a girl who was assaulted in a similar fashion, woke up in a frat house having been sexually assaulted by a person she "knew" and had rejected....(also the last thing she remembers was him walking away from her table in a downtown bar.) The ATHENS pd and the CAMPUS pd argued just enough time over who had jurisdiction over the frat house to make the tracing of the drug impossible....and thus did nothing....and our beloved Dean of students' response when she had issues with a professor over missing an exam the day after the assault was to suggest she WITHDRAW from the university. She stayed....she persevered not allowing this coward of a man (the frat boy perpetrator) to take her education away from her. However, to this day I will no longer trust that the UNIVERSITY doesn't want to make victims like this disappear....How many girls leave? Its time to rise up women of this university and demand accountability, to prosecute and to insist on support from this school for these crimes.

P.S. To all you guys who think raping, sodomizing a woman who you have drugged is an okay thing to do--you disgust me. I do hope that justice will serve you one day. And...to you frat boys who protect brothers who behave this way....shame on you because by protecting them, you become a part of the crime and ruin the reputation of the entire fraternity system.


Where is your actual proof of this? It is easy to hurl such accusations behind the anonymity of a keyboard. If you truly are who you say you are and you have done nothing other than make an anonymous post on a college newspaper's web page you are enabling such activity to take place.

Why not go to the media and the feds and get an investigation started if you have such information? Are you willing to stand up in a court of law, take the oath, and repeat the accusations that you have made? If not, and what you say is actually happening, then you are an accomplice to rape.
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CoastalDawg

posted 9/25/07 @ 2:25 PM EST

I seem to recall a similar story in the Red and Black a few months back so this doesn't really seem to be a secret. Not to blame the "victim", but having three drinks and then going home with someone you just met can easily set you up for something you don't want to happen. There certainly are sleazy young men who prey on willing young women, but who really knows if the actions of a female with three drinks might somehow have suggested that further "play" was a possibility? Just don't go out alone, get drunk and take on a stranger.
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kenneth

posted 9/25/07 @ 6:51 PM EST

Originally posted by

CoastalDawg

 I seem to recall a similar story in the Red and Black a few months back so this doesn't really seem to be a secret. Not to blame the "victim", but having three drinks and then going home with someone you just met can easily set you up for something you don't want to happen. There certainly are sleazy young men who prey on willing young women, but who really knows if the actions of a female with three drinks might somehow have suggested that further "play" was a possibility? Just don't go out alone, get drunk and take on a stranger.


Hey idiot, when someone puts something in your drink, even one drink, you dont know what you are doing! She was drugged and raped, it happens more than you would like to think in Athens, its often not reported, and when it is reported its often not investigated due to lack of evidence. Most date rape drugs are TOTALLY out of the persons system in just a few hours. Its not like pot or coke where it will show up in a drug test days or weeks later, its gone before the victim can even report the crime.
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too close to home

posted 9/25/07 @ 6:17 PM EST

coastaldawg, it does sound like you are trying to blame the victim...no matter WHAT condition a person is in, no one has the right to force sexual activities on them.
as a ps to sam, I agree. There were at least six reported rapes on campus last year, NONE of which lead to charges due to "lack of evidence."
I was somewhat surprised to see NO information presented to students coming to campus about protecting themselves from rape/date rape. Also no education for males that might lead to rape prevention. Sexual Assault center in Athens almost shut down and last I knew only a petition trying to get a "women's health center" on campus existed. Our whole society denies the pervasivenes of this problem, and rarely prosecutes or punishes the criminals.
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anon

posted 9/25/07 @ 8:00 PM EST

Originally posted by

too close to home

 coastaldawg, it does sound like you are trying to blame the victim...no matter WHAT condition a person is in, no one has the right to force sexual activities on them.
as a ps to sam, I agree. There were at least six reported rapes on campus last year, NONE of which lead to charges due to "lack of evidence."
I was somewhat surprised to see NO information presented to students coming to campus about protecting themselves from rape/date rape. Also no education for males that might lead to rape prevention. Sexual Assault center in Athens almost shut down and last I knew only a petition trying to get a "women's health center" on campus existed. Our whole society denies the pervasivenes of this problem, and rarely prosecutes or punishes the criminals.


The University does provide information on rape and date rape to new freshman. The University Police travel to the dorms and sororities and teach classes on the dangers of date rape and other drugs. They give advise about not walking alone at night and always making sure that someone knows where you are. They also teach womens self defense class. The information is there for those who want to listen.

The problem with investigating rapes or other forms of sexual assault is that most of the time the victim does not want to cooperate. They don't want to provide the police with any information that may assist them in finding out who is responsible. This is part of what causes the lack of evidence.

Most women don't know that if something like this happens to you it is important to save the clothing you were wearing and not wash it. It is also important to not shower until a Sexual Assault Nurse (SANE Nurse) is able to perform a rape kit (medical examine that collects all of the required medical information). This will assist investigators in solving the crime.
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Jupiter Star

posted 9/26/07 @ 2:58 AM EST

I'm not excusing the behavior of the suspect in this case; however, the simple fact of the matter is that if the victim had not been consuming alcohol illegally, this would not have happened. 19 year olds shouldn't be in bars drinking with 30 somethings.

A recent UK study exposed the "date rape" drug as a myth. Have a look at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=436592&in_page_id=1770

Researcher Dr Hywel Hughes said: "This study confirmed our suspicion that most of the patients with suspected drink-spiking would test negative for drugs. No ketamine, GHB or Rohypnol was found in the samples which suggest they are not commonly used to spike drinks.

"There has been a lot of media coverage in recent years, mainly focusing on just a few substances including Rohypnol and GHB, which has led to the perception that drinkspiking is a widespread practice. But most patients allegedly having a spiked drink tested negative for drugs misuse.

"Claiming their drink has been spiked may be used as an excuse by patients who have become incapacitated after the voluntary consumption of excess alcohol."
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anonymous

posted 9/28/07 @ 2:07 AM EST

Someone's being a little judgmental.... Even though it should stand out as odd that the suspect, being in his 30s, would hang out with 19 and 20 yr old college students.... age difference does not make this a suspicious encounter. And so the victim was not of legal drinking age.... slap her on the hand and then realize that it could've been a coke she was drinking and he could've just as easily spiked it... What she was drinking does not have any relationship to HIS actions... he spiked her drink- no matter what the drink was...
Furthermore, as to the reports of being drugged and then testing negative for drugs in their systems... that is why these drugs work so well for such devious psychopaths...they do not stay in the system very long at all and it takes at least a matter of hours for the victim to regain consciousness, realize that something has happened, report the crime, and have the report processed. That helps explain why so many of these predators get away with it.


Originally posted by

Jupiter Star

 I'm not excusing the behavior of the suspect in this case; however, the simple fact of the matter is that if the victim had not been consuming alcohol illegally, this would not have happened. 19 year olds shouldn't be in bars drinking with 30 somethings.

A recent UK study exposed the "date rape" drug as a myth. Have a look at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=436592&in_page_id=1770

Researcher Dr Hywel Hughes said: "This study confirmed our suspicion that most of the patients with suspected drink-spiking would test negative for drugs. No ketamine, GHB or Rohypnol was found in the samples which suggest they are not commonly used to spike drinks.

"There has been a lot of media coverage in recent years, mainly focusing on just a few substances including Rohypnol and GHB, which has led to the perception that drinkspiking is a widespread practice. But most patients allegedly having a spiked drink tested negative for drugs misuse.

"Claiming their drink has been spiked may be used as an excuse by patients who have become incapacitated after the voluntary consumption of excess alcohol."
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anon anon

posted 9/28/07 @ 1:05 PM EST

"The problem with investigating rapes or other forms of sexual assault is that most of the time the victim does not want to cooperate. They don't want to provide the police with any information that may assist them in finding out who is responsible."

Or, they dont want to provide police with information that will disclose their identity and embarass them for something they didn't do to themselves. Because the accused has a right to a fair trial and to confront his accusers, the victim is going to be put on display whether she wants that or not. And rape shield laws don't protect victims from the rumors and the gossip the accused is free to spread behind people's backs.

It's in how you say it, anon.
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