University Public Safety will add a statement to its brochure and website indicating where information on registered sexual offenders can be found, said Public Safety Crime Prevention Specialist Barry Weiser.
Most of the information is kept at the police department and the Mercer County prosecutor's office. The statement will be added during the summer, in time for the the next school year, Weiser said.
"If a sexual crime is reported directly to Public Safety, we will be involved in the investigation," said Chief Steven Healy of Public Safety. "But you have to keep in mind that up to 70 percent of sexual crimes are unreported."
In 2001, Public Safety investigated four incidents of sexual assault, with six more reported to SHARE. Though were only one and two incidents of sexual assault in 1999 and 2000, respectively, Thema Bryant, SHARE coordinator, said the numbers did not indicate a rise in crime, but rather a greater willingness of people to come forward and seek help.
The change of policy comes following the recent adoption of the Campus Sex Crimes Prevention Act amendment to the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The act requires institutions of higher education to report all registered sexual offenders to state authorities.
The law requires that parole officers keep track of all convicted sex offenders and notify neighborhoods of their whereabouts.
The relatively new act is essentially an addition to the Jeanne Clery Act passed in 1998. The Clery Act requires schools to file an annual statistical report, a daily campus crime log and regular records on crimes that present an ongoing threat to the campus community, according to the Public Safety website.
When sexual crimes are reported to SHARE, the victim has an option of an informal or a formal resolution. If, however, the crime is reported directly to the administration, Public Safety or the police, there is a formal investigation. A disciplinary committee reviews the evidence and the process may result in a one-year suspension, or if the crime is serious enough, permanent expulsion.
"We follow up and conduct an investigation," said Marianne Waterbury, assistant dean of undergraduate students. "If there is no clear and persuasive evidence, it is up to the victim to continue the investigation."
The victim can then choose to have an informal resolution instead, in which trained deans listen and mediate, she said.
"We tell them, we believe what you say, but this is not an investigation, rather we want to know what you want out of this [resolution]," Waterbury said.
The resolution takes the form of a contract in which the parties agree to a solution, whether it be simple recognition of the assault or an apology.
Individual counseling is the option chosen most often by students, both victims and perpetrators, Bryant said.
Sessions are insight-oriented and focus on raising awareness about the student's own behavior and thoughts. Since the majority of perpetrators are male, there is also a focus on the use of power and the views of society on masculinity.
"If a person is a offender and they've been found guilty, they can be directed to have to come to SHARE for educational purposes. Some people come on their own," Bryant said.
For sexual assault to be put on a person's police record, the victim must press criminal charges. Most victims do not take this route, because of either fear, shame or the lapse of time from the crime, Bryant said.
"Being found guilty on campus does not translate into something being written on a criminal record," said Bryant.
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