Over a dozen reports of sexual assault logged in Kennesaw State’s Police Department’s daily crime logs over the past four years say that they are still under investigation.
According to KSU PD’s crime logs, January 2015 through November of this year saw 43 total sexual assault offenses across the Marietta and Kennesaw campuses. Of those offenses, 67 percent were reports of rape.
Over half of the reported rape cases are still listed as “under investigation” or “open” in KSUPD’s daily crime logs.
There were nine rape cases reported to the campus police in 2015, according to the crime logs. Five of the cases from 2015 are still labeled in the logs as under investigation or open, and the other three reported rape cases from that year were considered closed “pending receipt of further information.”
In 2016, there are 12 reported rape cases listed in the daily crime logs, with seven of them still listed as under investigation. Two other reported rape cases still say they are pending further information, and one case in 2016 had its “investigation suspended.” Another did not state the status of the case — meaning that only one rape case from that year was designated as closed.
In 2017, there were seven reported rape cases with four of those still under investigation or open. This year, there has been one reported rape case, which the crime logs state was referred to the Behavior Response Team.
When the Sentinel reached out to the Behavior Response Team, they said that they do not handle sexual assault cases and investigations.
The Sentinel has requested information and incident reports from KSUPD and has been denied in the past because the department does not provide detailed information about a case until the investigation is over.
“There are a variety of reasons why investigations can take a long time to resolve, however, by law, we are only required to update the status of an incident on our crime log for up to 60 days,” KSU Police Chief Edward Stephens said.
This means that the university is not required to update the status of a reported crime in the logs after 60 days even if the status of the crime changes.
“Information about ongoing investigations are only communicated when it is an incident that involved an ongoing threat to the broader campus community,” Stephens said.
Students have expressed concerns in the past about the police department not informing students about certain incidents on campus.
In August, KSU police apprehended a student that brought a loaded gun onto the Kennesaw campus and was threatening to “kill students who wronged him.” Stephens sent an email to notify students, faculty and staff the day after the incident occurred, and students took to social media to raise concerns about the delayed notification.
A student was also arrested in 2016 after he attacked another student, sexually harassed a female student and threatened to murder all of his classmates. The police arrested the student two days after he threatened his peers. After the incident gained attention in the media, students expressed worry that the university did not notify them in the two days between the incident and the student’s arrest.
The KSUPD did not notify students about the incident because university officials said that it did not meet the requirements of the Clery Act.
The Clery Act, a nationwide law passed in 1990, requires colleges and universities to disclose information about crimes committed on campus to protect students. At KSU, the crimes that meet the requirement for the Clery Act are criminal offenses, hate crimes, Violence Against Women Act offenses and arrests and referrals for disciplinary action.
In November 2017, the Sentinel reported that KSU has higher rates of sexual misconduct than other four-year universities of comparable size. Georgia Tech, Georgia Southern University and Georgia State University all have fewer reports of dating violence, stalking and rape than KSU.
If you have experienced any form of sexual harassment and would like to anonymously share your story, please reach out through the Sentinel’s email at eic@ksusentinel.com.
Sabrina Kerns contributed to this article.
