Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

 

8/26/10 Advocate (Newark, Ohio) (Pg. Unavail. Online)

2010 WLNR 17062173

 

Advocate, The (Newark, OH)

Copyright 2010 Gannett

 

August 26, 2010

 

Section: COMMUNITIES

 

Prosecutor seeks improvements in DU crime reports

 

August 26, 2010 Denison University failed to report numerous instances of possible felonies -- including  rape  -- on the private school's campus in recent years, in violation of Ohio law, and is facing scrutiny from Licking County's prosecutor to change its handling of crime reports.

 

Licking County Prosecutor Ken Oswalt learned about   rape  allegations on Denison's campus after a student was expelled and his attorney filed a civil lawsuit contesting his removal from campus.

 

The women did not want police involved, and the university honored that request, Oswalt said.

 

By law, the university has an obligation to report potential crimes to Granville police. Denison officials say they did. Without documentation, there is no way to know.

 

"Simply put, there are some allegations that because of their nature a prosecutor ought to be involved in," Oswalt said.

 

The incident has prompted Oswalt to fashion a new agreement with Denison, the Granville Police Department and Granville Law Director Mike Crites to improve documentation of crime on campus.

 

A copy of the new memorandum of understanding, which will include the prosecutor's office, is in the works. Any change in policies on how information is relayed has not been finalized, Oswalt said.

 

"Representatives are simply talking through what the mechanics of that relationship will be," Denison President Dale Knobel said.

 

Oswalt and Moore commended the university on its willingness to improve how crime is reported.

 

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