Police Offer Reward for Perpetrator of Assault
by Tobias Smith

This week, the Oberlin Police Department released a composite printout of a man believed to be an assailant in a robbery and sexual assault that occurred last semester. In addition to the composite, the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office has offered a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the perpetrators.
The victim, a male Oberlin College student whose name has not been released, was robbed and assaulted by two men while walking through Tappan Square at approximately 3 a.m. on Oct. 14. The assailants apparently ran away but saw the victim get up, at which point one assailant returned and sexually assaulted the victim.
The victim, who sustained facial injuries, called Safety and Security and was taken to Allen Medical center when the Oberlin Police Department was called. Safety and Security quickly posted a Special Alert, though the sexual assault was not mentioned. “We did put out a campus bulletin. However, the police asked us not to reveal the sexual nature of the crime because, at the time, they believed it would compromise the nature of the investigation. As we do in most cases, we cooperated with the police,” Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith said.
The release of this picture, taken from a description given by the victim, comes almost four months after the incident. “We do something like [releasing a composite picture] when we are not able to determine any suspects; when we are stuck,” Police Chief Michael Moorman said.
Many students were surprised to see a composite police sketch. “I thought they only put stuff like this up in post offices,” first-year Zach Webber said.
Safety and Security has not made any major policy changes because of this incident, though they have increased patrol around Tappan Square and near the Pagoda, where the incident occurred. “We are continuing to do routine duties because we have very little information about the case itself. We have a crime prevention program in which each officer is assigned a dormitory. The officer has meetings with students targeted at hyping student awareness,” Director of Safety and Security Robert Jones said.
Last semester’s discourse on sexual assault largely focused around student on student rape, student drinking and the campus alcohol and consent policies. “I don’t think that anyone is suggesting the alcohol is largely to blame for sexual assault, it is a factor. We were referring to sexual encounters between students. Alcohol can be a source of miscommuncation in those encounters, it clouds communication but this was a very different situation than the other reports we encountered this fall. Indeed an assault happened that appears to have been perpetrated by a stranger, someone unconnected to the college,” Goldsmith said.
Another major concern on campus has been the relatively high rate of unenrollment among sexual assault victims at Oberlin. It is unknown whether the survivor in this case has returned to Oberlin for Spring semester.
This incident is one of three reports of sexual assault the College has received so far this school year.

February 8
February 15

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