Jeudi

by Mary Kilpatrick (Updated 3:20 p.m.)

A Loyola student was raped by an acquaintance in the university parking garage Friday morning around 4:12 a.m., according to the Loyola University Police Department. Loyola University spokeswoman Meredith Hartley said the university is working with the New Orleans police department in the investigation. She said the rapist was a known acquaintance of the victim.

New Orleans Police Department spokeswoman Hilal Williams said the victim had been out drinking at a bar when she met the suspect. They began dancing, and the victim allowed him to walk her home, she said. Sometime after the leaving the bar, the suspect raped the woman in the Loyola parking garage staircase, Williams said.

Detectives are in contact with the suspect and will be meeting with him soon, Williams said.

“Obviously [this incident] takes us all by surprise, and we are very concerned about the victim,” Hartley said. “It was someone she knew.” 

She said the university releases campus crime reports, called “Be On the Lookout,” for all crimes that occur on or near the campus community.

According to Loyola’s most recent federally-mandated Cleary Act crime report, which details campus crime numbers, the campus had only had one sex crime from 2009-11.

The university’s 2012 numbers have not yet been released.

Loyola Police Crime Prevention Lieutenant Angela Honore said the university takes reporting campus crime seriously.

“If there is a rape on campus, it will be reported in the Cleary Act [report],” Honore said.

Hartley said the university has many programs to educate students about rape throughout the year including a class called Rape Awareness Defense, and beginning of the year Loyola Police Department talks about date rape held in all of the dorms.