UW-Green Bay Police conclude investigation into alleged assault
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Police announced Wednesday (Oct. 12) there will be no charges filed in an alleged sexual assault reported Friday, July 15, 2011, on the outskirts of campus, 2420 Nicolet Drive.
Police said Wednesday they have concluded their investigation into the matter, in which a teenage male reported that he was forced into a minivan and subjected to unwanted sexual contact with an unknown male perpetrator. As a result of a thorough investigation, University Police have determined the alleged assault did not occur as reported, and said Wednesday they are confident the public is not at risk.
The teenage male reported the evening of Friday, July 15, that he had been forcibly sexually assaulted around 12:30 p.m. that afternoon in a light-colored minivan parked on Leon Bond Drive (formerly Sports Center Drive) near the Bay Settlement entrance on the outskirts of campus. However, due to inconsistent and unverifiable testimony from the boy, officers say there is not enough evidence to substantiate his account. Despite an exhaustive investigation, officers are unable to verify whether an assault took place. If there was contact between the alleged victim and an unknown adult male, they said, it was the result of a preexisting Internet relationship and not an encounter with a stranger. Officials have been unable to identify the party who may have victimized the boy.
In addition to multiple interviews, UW-Green Bay Police conducted a thorough, deliberate investigation of the allegations through Internet subpoenas, surveillance videos from the area and a complete computer forensic analysis that included text messages, Internet searches and online chat rooms. UW-Green Bay Police Chief Tom Kujawa said Wednesday that the case serves as a cautionary tale about Internet safety and protecting oneself online.
“It is critical for children and parents alike to exercise caution in online chat forums and other forms of electronic communication,” Kujawa said. “There is, unfortunately, a great deal of potential for people to misrepresent themselves or engage minors or other vulnerable persons in inappropriate and illegal correspondence and relationships.”
Kujawa also emphasized that although this case yielded no charges, campus police continue to encourage victims of sexual assault and other crimes to report those incidents to police.
