Sexual assault reports rise in State College

http://www.poconorecord.com/local/tjd51880.htm

STATE COLLEGE (AP) — Police have investigated three times the
number of sexual assaults in State College since students returned at
the end of August, compared to the same period last year, police said.

Since Aug. 25, when most Penn State students began arriving for the
fall semester, State College police have received 29 reports of what
are defined as "sexual attacks," up from nine incidents during the
same period last year.

"Sexual attacks" are defined by police to include any type of unwanted
sexual contact, from touching to rape. Of the 29 reports, 13 were for
rapes and 16 were for sexual assaults or indecent assaults.

Penn State officials also saw a rise in the number of reported sexual
attacks since right before the fall semester, though the increase is
not as pronounced as what police had seen.

"One (reason) would be an increased awareness and, therefore, more
victims report them," said university police supervisor Bill
Moerschbacher. "Or it could be that there are just more happening."

Whatever the reason, undergraduate student government president Ian
Rosenberger called the statistics "unacceptable."

"According to our estimates, almost 1,000 students at University Park
alone will be assaulted this year," Rosenberger said.