A woman’s report of being sexual assaulted on Stanford University’s campus — sparking fear among the university community and prompting students to change their routines — has been deemed fabricated after investigators found the attack never happened.
Stanford’s Department of Public Safety (DPS) launched what it described as a “thorough investigation” into the alleged March 29 assault near the intersection of Santa Ynez Street and Mayfield Avenue after a female jogger reported being sexually assaulted by an armed man, according to the Stanford Daily.
Authorities have now concluded the crime did not actually occur, Stanford PR Director Charlene Gage told the outlet.
“[The Department of Public Safety] recognizes that these findings may raise concerns for survivors about whether they will be believed if they make a police report,” Gage wrote in an email. “[The department] remains steadfastly committed to treating every report with the utmost seriousness and care.”
She added that the department will continue to conduct comprehensive, impartial investigations based on evidence while treating those who report such crimes with respect.
Gage said the same woman reported a second alleged sexual assault on April 5 that investigators likewise determined did not happen based on what she described as “strong evidence.”
In the original report, the woman told university police she was jogging when a man grabbed her, “pushed [her] into a landscaped area near a house,” and sexually assaulted her at around 6:15 p.m. She also claimed he was carrying a firearm.
The alleged attacker was described as clean-shaven with dark skin, brown eyes and short hair. The woman said he was wearing a light blue sweatshirt, dark jeans and a thick braided bracelet, with a semi-automatic handgun tucked into his waistband.
The report prompted the Stanford University Department of Public Safety to issue a campus-wide alert at 10:40 p.m. that night.
In early April, university spokesperson Angie Davis told the Stanford Daily that DPS had “no evidence that there is a threat to the community related to this incident.”
Despite that reassurance, the reported assault rattled the campus community, with many students locking their doors, sharing their live locations with friends, buying pepper spray and avoiding poorly lit areas.
“Hearing the news that first Sunday back from Spring Break was heartbreaking,” incoming ASSU Executive Vice President Celeste Vargas wrote in a March email to the Stanford Daily. “It’s a scary time to be a woman on campus.”
