Sexual assault on campus falsely reported

The Geneseo campus has given a lot of attention to sexual assault in past weeks, with both national Sexual Assault Awareness Week and the report of a sexual assault taking place on campus. University Police posted an update to its investigation of the alleged assault on Monday April 28. The update read: “The University Police Department conducted a thorough investigation of the reported assault, and according to Interim Chief of University Police Tom Kilcullen, after speaking with alleged victim, UPD was able to determine that no sexual assault occurred.”

This information comes after UPD has made several steps to increase safety in the area where the alleged assault took place.

“When the incident was reported, we needed to be responsive to the community,” Kilcullen said in a phone interview.

“We did that in a number of ways: By stepping up visibility in the place where the incident occurred, we had officers who would interview those in the area who may have additional knowledge, and additional patrols in parking lots where students travel by foot and to reassure the community as best we can,” he added.

Due to the nature of the alleged crime and the sensitivity of the issue, Kilcullen was unable to provide much information on the investigation.

“Due to the complexity of this specific case, and out of sensitivity to the people that were involved, it would not be appropriate for me to comment at this time,” Kilcullen said.

“There were discussions regarding the case and the complexities with campus officials, as well as university counsel office regarding the process as we went forward with the investigation,” he added.

There were a number of persons questioned relative to the case during this process, but information regarding whether it was mostly students or staff was unavailable.

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