Cook County prosecutors have declined to bring criminal charges against a man accused of sexually assaulting a Dominican University student last weekend.
“Last night a determination was made to not pursue any criminal charges, either misdemeanor or felony charges,” Deputy Chief James O’Shea said Tuesday.
O’Shea said personnel from the State Attorney’s Office of Felony Review worked late into the night re-interviewing all witnesses in the case, and the alleged victim and offender. They also review all case reports of detectives who investigated the case, as well as all evidence.
O’Shea said there are no other suspects in the case.
“The person of interest was the sole (suspect) directly involved in this case. We are not seeking anyone else.”
Meanwhile, Dominican University officials continue to conduct their own, separate investigation in the allegations made by an 18-year old freshman female. That young woman said she was raped by an acquaintance after returning from an under-age drinking party on campus.
According to the U.S. Education Department, under federal Title IX law, such investigations are mandated and, “a law enforcement investigation does not relieve the school of its independent Title IX obligation to investigate the conduct.”
“We are conducting our own confidential investigation right now so I can’t share much,” University spokesperson Jessica MacKinnon said Monday. She released the following statement on behalf of Dominican.
“On Saturday, October 11, 2014, Dominican University received a report from a student alleging that she was sexually assaulted by an acquaintance while in a room in a campus residence hall. The police were contacted and the alleged perpetrator has been banned from campus. The university is cooperating fully with the River Forest Police Department in its investigation of this incident. In addition, the university has opened its own confidential Title IX investigation of the incident and support services are being provided to the entire university community.”
The victim’s aunt contacted the police and the university after the young woman said she was attacked in her dorm room after the 22-year old “brother of a friend’s boyfriend” walked her back to campus from a friend’s birthday party Friday night.
The aunt said her niece admitted she had been drinking, but did not want the man in her dorm room and told him so.
“All that she knows is that she had been drinking. She did ask him to leave, and he refused to leave. The next thing she remembers was waking up.”
The young woman called campus security after waking up naked under a blanket Saturday morning, then called her family and went to Rush Oak Park Hospital, where a rape kit was utilized.
The alleged offender turned himself in to River Forest police Monday.
Calls and emails to the victim’s aunt were not immediately returned Tuesday morning by press time.
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