Articles Posted in Sexual Assault

Original Details

Back in 2011, the Obama administration made a directive demanding universities to improve their policies regarding sexual assault claims on campus. In an effort to empower and encourage victims to come forward in the event of a sexual assault, many changes were required of university policy and procedure in how to handle sexual assault complaints. One major change was to empower a single investigator who is a university employee or outside expert to do all of the interviews regarding everyone involved in a sexual assault complaint. This investigator would interview the accused, the accuser, and any other witnesses. This investigator then compiles the results of these interviews into reports and makes recommendations. This approach led to many complaints saying that the accused is not being afforded due process or a right to cross examine their accuser. Many lawsuits against universities were then filed by both survivors of sexual assault as well as men who were falsely accused. The common theme in these lawsuits is that the universities were not handling these cases properly and were not qualified to lead these types of investigations.

The Changes Implemented

Most people who think of sex offenders automatically believe a male is the perpetrator. The fact is, the incidence of sexual violence or assault involving women who are the offenders is growing. While the tendency to commit sexual crimes can emerge in adolescence, many offenses involving teens or adults go unreported, regardless of whether the alleged offender is male or female.

Approximately 9% of youths report they were the victims of some form of sexual violence in a Growing Up With Media national study in 2010 in which information was collected online. The acts committed against these youths included coercive sex, forced sexual contact, attempted rape, and completed rape. Interestingly, the results of the study found that while males were more likely to commit a sex-related offense against a younger victim, offenses in which females were the perpetrators most often involved victims who were older. Additionally, the study concluded that males tend to commit sexual violence at an earlier age than females, which may suggest different developmental courses.

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Recently, a 32-year-old man who allegedly raped a 7-year-old girl on Staten Island was apprehended and arrested by police in New Jersey. The girl was reportedly raped sometime prior to 2:45 a.m. on August 6 at her home.

According to news reports, Daniel Nieto entered the home where the young girl lived through an unlocked door, then sexually assaulted the victim. Ironically, Nieto had been arrested for criminal trespass for hanging out in a vacant home just a short time following the sexual assault, although police were not aware the rape had occurred. After being charged with criminal trespass, Nieto was released. It would take police 12 days to find Nieto and arrest him in connection with the rape.

Ultimately, police caught Nieto in East Brunswick, NJ and took him into custody on Tuesday, August 18. At last news reports, charges against him were pending as the suspect is being extradited to Staten Island to face charges.

In August of 2013, Thomas F. Bolton of Wilhoit, AZ allegedly raped a 16-year-old girl at his home. Bolton was convicted of sexually assaulting and kidnapping the underage victim, and was sentenced on June 30 to 14 years in prison. He was also sentenced to 10 years on the kidnapping charges.

The victim in the case told authorities that while at his home, Wilhoit forcibly removed her clothes and held her down to rape her. Wilhoit allegedly stopped assaulting the girl when her boyfriend showed up at the home. He told a deputy that Bolton has his girlfriend pinned to a bed, and that he heard her saying “no.” Bolton denied having sexual contact with the girl, but was charged with harassment after driving to a business in Wilhoit in September of last year where he allegedly blocked a vehicle containing the victim and a friend in a parking lot.

According to a news report at CBS 5 in Arizona, Bolton’s sentences will run concurrently, and he will service the full 14-year sentence for sexual assault.

On Sunday, May 10 at approximately 5 a.m., a 27-year-old woman claims a man tried to sexually assault her as she was riding a CTA Red Line train between the Fullerton and North/Clybourn stations, according to a news article at the Chicago Tribune. The two were the only passengers on the train according to ABC news report.

Ronald Sparks, a 34-year-old South Side man, was ultimately arrested in the case after police sent out surveillance photos in a community alert on Sunday evening. According to Officer Janel Sedevic, a spokeswoman for the Chicago Police Department, the alleged victim declined medical attention.

Thomas Hunt of the Guardian Angels handed out fliers with surveillance photos of the suspect early Monday morning, and said he was not surprised Sparks was caught due to the clarity of the photos. He went on to say that CTA spent a considerable amount of time and effort installing the surveillance cameras.

Recently, two Troy University students were arrested in regards to a sexual assault that allegedly occurred in March over spring break at Panama City Beach in Florida, according to an article at the New York Times.

News reports claim a 19-year-old woman who was incapacitated and believed she had been drugged was sexually assaulted as hundreds of beach goers looked on. The two men who were arrested include 23-year-old Ryan Austin Calhoun or Mobile, AL, and 22-year-old Delonte Martistee of Bainbridge, GA. Sheriff Frank McKeithen said that they were also searching for two more people, a third man they believed may have been involved in the “gang-rape-type attack,” and a fourth person whose role was not specified.

The alleged victim said that she did not recall the assault clearly enough to report it, as she believed she had been drugged. Authorities learned of the sexual assault after a video of the assault captured on a cell phone was discovered while investigating another incident. The video was then sent by Troy police to the sheriff’s office in Florida. After reviewing the cell phone video, authorities identified the woman and determined the sexual assault occurred behind the Spinnaker Beach Club. Calhoun and Martistee were being extradited to Bay County, where the sexual assault took place.