The Hanover police department is currently investigating an alleged incident of sexual assault on a Dartmouth student which occurred late Friday night of Homecoming weekend.
According to Hanover Police Chief Nick Giaccone, a female Dartmouth student was attacked by a 22 year-old male visiting from out of state. The two were acquaintances, Giaccone said.
The incident was reported to both Safety and Security and the police on Friday night by the victim, and it is the first case of sexual assault reported to Safety and Security in over a year.
No charges have been filed, said Giaccone, because the victim has not yet filed a formal complaint.
Police in Hanover can press charges and follow with an arrest without the victim's consent, but it is rarely done.
"We like to have a cooperating victim," Giaccone said, who added that in his 20-some years at the department, no charges have ever been pressed without victim consent.
Giaccone said yesterday that at this time it is unclear whether the victim will file a formal complaint.
The police spoke with the attacker on Saturday, but had no authorization to arrest him.
Giaccone said police "secured evidence" at the dormitory where the incident took place, but said police would not act on that evidence without the victim's cooperation.
According to Giaccone, the police are assuming that the victim's assailant is at his residence, which is out of state. Giaccone said yesterday that the police are aware of the attacker's location.
"We need greater detail, and more commitment on the part of the victim," Giaccone said, before police could press charges. "Right now we're just waiting."
Though no reports of sexual assault have been reported to Safety and Security at Dartmouth in over a year, Susan Marine -- coordinator of the Sexual Abuse Awareness Program -- told The Dartmouth last week that 26 cases of sexual assault or rape were reported to her department from September 1998 to August 1999.
She claims the discrepancy is due to the fact that many victims of sexual assault do not feel comfortable reporting their cases to the authorities.
