Lions athlete accused of sexual assault

Campus police investigate allegations of rape against a Missouri Southern athlete. “At this point, the investigation is ongoing and there is no imminent threat to anyone on campus,” said Ron Mitchell, dean of students.

Joshua Boley | The Chart

Campus police investigate allegations of rape against a Missouri Southern athlete. “At this point, the investigation is ongoing and there is no imminent threat to anyone on campus,” said Ron Mitchell, dean of students.

A Missouri Southern student was hospitalized in the early morning on Sept. 28, after allegedly being forcibly raped at her residence hall on campus.

Campus officials say the alleged perpetrator is a student athlete at Southern, but emphasize there is no general threat to the campus community.

Names will not be released until official charges have been filed by the prosecutor’s office.

“We have interviewed a suspect and this is not a stranger abduction type of case,” said University Police Chief Ken Kennedy. “They [the victim and suspect] were already in a relationship of some kind. I want to emphasize that there is not a threat to the campus.”

According to the University Police report, between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. on Sept. 28, Joplin police took a report at Mercy Hospital on the sexual assault that took place on Missouri Southern’s campus.

In the report filed by the University Police, the offense is listed as a UCR code 11, “forcible rape by forcible compulsion,” which means compelling the victim by use of physical force or by threat.

On Sept. 29, the Joplin Police Department handed the report over to the University Police at Southern. Kennedy said jurisdiction was Southern’s because the incident occurred on campus. JPD officers did not immediately realize the case fell under Kennedy’s purview.

Kennedy outlined the protocol for investigating sexual abuse cases on campus.

“We take a report and try to figure out what the facts are,” he said. “We try to support the victim in any way we can by offering them counseling, among other things.”

University Police interviewed two witnesses to the incident as well.

According to Kennedy, as of Wednesday the University Police had finished their investigation and turned it over to the county prosecutor’s office.

 According to Dean of Students Ron Mitchell, the suspect is still attending classes while waiting for prosecutors to decide whether felony charges will be filed in the case.

“At this point, the investigation is ongoing and there is no imminent threat to anyone on campus,” said Mitchell. “We are very aware of who the student [perpetrator] is and we have taken steps and measures to assure that no one on campus is in danger.”

Mitchell also confirmed that the victim is back in classes after being hospitalized on Sunday morning.  He was unable to release any further information about the incident, however, due to his office’s ongoing investigation into the situation. This investigation is separate from the police investigation.

A 13-step process for the investigation being conducted by Mitchell is outlined in the 2014 Combined Annual Security Report & Fire Safety Report, commonly known as the Cleary Report.

The process involves providing remedial actions for the victim if needed; determining the identities of both the suspect and victim; performing an investigation that includes interviewing witnesses, obtaining documentary and physical evidence and analyzing the evidence; coming to a decision; and presenting the results to both parties.

According to the policy, the investigation should take anywhere from one day to two weeks to complete.