When a Campus Crime Alert goes out, signaling that a student has been sexually assaulted, the campus shivers and hopes the authorities catch the offender. Rarely, however, will anyone hear that an offender has been arrested in any of these cases.
The numbers show that few of these cases are actually ever “cleared,” which can mean a number of things. A case being cleared means that an arrest has been made, a case was suspended or an arrest couldn’t be made due to extenuating circumstances.
According to the crime statistics reported by the Eugene Police Department in their Annual Person/Property/Behavior With Crime Subgroups for Neighborhoods@@checked@@ report, only one out of 29 rape cases (3.4 percent) was cleared in 2010 in areas that students commonly populate. Also, only 38 out of 68 total sex offenses were cleared (56 percent).
In 2011, four of 16 rape cases (25 percent) and 45 of 80 sex-offense cases (56 percent) were cleared.
“Sexual assaults are the hardest to work, for a variety of different reasons,” said Ralph Burks,@@http://www.eugene-or.gov/portal/server.pt/gateway/PTARGS_0_0_5252_319_0_43/http%3B/ceppportlet.eugene1.net/egovmediaCenter/1458.asp@@ a detective in Eugene Police Department’s violent crimes unit. “There tends to be large amounts of alcohol involved. Many times, (there are) no witnesses. If there are (witnesses), one person recalls it one way while another remembers it another way.”
Especially if a survivor does not know their assaulter, it becomes nearly impossible to solve a case.
“If the suspect is identified by name, we at least have people to interview,” Burks said. “It is always difficult to substantiate what occurred.”
Another huge aspect is the timing of reporting. Due to the physical evidence expiring after a certain amount of time, the case can be hindered by late reporting. Yet at the same time, it is never recommended that a survivor come forward before they are ready.
“Survivors know what’s best for them,” said BB Beltran, the co-director of Sexual Assault Support Services.@@BB Beltran, the co-director of Sexual Assault Support Services@@ “Prosecutors do what they can.”
It’s much more than the lack of cleared cases that affects survivors.
“Survivors struggle in general,” she said. “They’re working really hard to get some type of normalcy.”
Last year, SASS had 5,000 advocacy requests, which included cases of more recent assault as well as of survivors who are coming forward now after past abuse. This is obviously a much greater number than what gets reported to police, and part of that is that SASS is completely confidential.
“We are not here to give advice. We work from an empowerment aspect,” Beltran said. “We are just trying to work together to fill the gaps in the system.”
Sometimes those gaps come in the form of cases being suspended until further evidence is found to “substantiate what occurred.”
“It’s not unusual to suspend a case for three or four months,” Burks said. “We open most cases back up. They’re difficult cases — there’s no question about that.”