By Kaitlyn Skrzypczak, Editor-in-Chief.
A female student was allegedly sexually assaulted on Delta College’s campus Thursday, Oct. 16. Students who were signed up to receive text alerts through Delta’s Emergency Notification System were informed via text of the assault after 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 19.
The female student filed a report to Michigan State Police Saturday, Oct. 18, according to a notice on Delta’s website from Public Safety. The student reported that she was sexually assaulted by a male acquaintance in his vehicle which was parked in the Medical Health Building parking lot or northwest parking lot. There was no indication that a weapon was used, the report said.
The alleged assailant has been identified and the Bay County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing the incident to determine if a warrant will be issued for his arrest.
College officials currently do not know the identity of the suspect or if he is a Delta student, according to the website notice. Public Safety is working with Michigan State Police to obtain additional information. The report states that Delta College will take appropriate action if the suspect is a current student.
According to the Delta College Department of Public Safety’s 2014 Annual Security Report two offenses of “Sexual Assault” (which includes rape, fondling, incest, and statutory rape) have occurred on campus from 2011 to 2013. The two separate offenses occurred in 2011 and 2013 and were both cases of “fondling.”
Delta College, as well as other colleges and universities, are required to “issue timely warnings about Clery Act crimes which pose a serious or ongoing threat to students and employees,” according to clerycenter.org. The Clery Act is the federal law requiring colleges and universities to disclose information about crimes on and around campus. The law is tied to an institution’s ability to participate in federal student aid programs and it applies to most public and private institutions of higher education.
If you have any information regarding this incident or other incidents of this nature, please contact Public Safety at 989-686-9113 or the Title IX coordinator at 989-686-9547.
If you’d like to receive alerts from the Emergency Notification System you can sign up through the Public Safety website at delta.edu/publicsafety.aspx.
Public Safety officers are also available to escort students to their vehicles. You can contact Public Safety in person at N102 or by phone at 989-686-911. You will need to give the dispatcher your name and location and a description of your vehicle. An officer will then escort you safely to your vehicle.
