Alleged Sexual Assault Under Investigation

By Amy Ahern

On March 1, 2018

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The alleged incident occured in South Towers.
Photo Courtesy of Caleb Zopp

Concord University officials have confirmed that there is an open investigation into an alleged sexual assault after having received a report of an incident the evening of Monday, Feb. 12. The alleged incident occurred in South Towers.

A statement was released through Concord’s website on Feb. 15, stating that “The Concord University Police Department is investigating an alleged on-campus incident that occurred over the weekend. The alleged incident was reported to campus police Monday February 12, 2018. University officials will not be able to comment pending the investigation.”

The following day, Feb. 16, Concord students received an email from Vice President of Student Affairs, Dean of Students, and Title IX Coordinator Marjie Flanigan. She stated in this email that “Concord University is actively investigating an alleged sexual assault that was reported this week. Please know that as a result, there is a greater campus police presence in the resident halls that will continue throughout the semester.” The email also contained precautionary tips to avoid dangerous situations, as well as contact information for campus police, the local rape crisis center, and hospitals.

Two days later on Feb. 18, Student Government Association President Sarah Fancher sent out an email to the student body to address the increase in police presence, and to reassure both residents and commuters. “Campus Police are there to help…[and] to ensure the safety of students...If you see officers around campus, do not be alarmed but comforted instead,” she wrote.

When asked about increased presence of police on campus, Sgt. Terry Moulder, one of the two lead campus officials investigating the incident, stated that “We are going to sit down and work with housing. Some [officers] are trying to make more of a point to be out and about, and seen. Conversations will be had on how we can increase our presence without adversely affecting anything.”

The alleged student-on-student sexual assault took place the night of Feb. 10 into the early hours of Feb. 11. Moulder confirms that they [officials] have established a timeline of events. “We do have some digital evidence and have established a timeline based on that,” Moulder states. He confirmed that they have sent out the digital evidence to Huntington, W.Va., for investigation. Moulder says that “there’s no way to know how long it could take” to receive results.

Moulder confirmed that evidence has been collected from the room where the alleged assault took place and that this evidence has been sent to the only lab in the state in Charleston, W.Va. Sgt. Moulder stated that, in accordance with that lab’s policy, the lab is evaluating the initial evidence, and that they will request further pieces of evidence if necessary. The process, Moulder states, “could take a long time,” potentially months.

However, Moulder stated that he believes that investigators have “gotten everything we can get.” The lead investigator Sgt. Davis Eldridge was out of the office and unable to comment.

Sgt. Moulder stated that administration would not be able to release a statement until the investigators had an accurate picture of the facts and were able to release accurate information. “Administration is at the point where they won’t say anything until we can dispense accurate information,” Moulder stated. Furthermore, he says that the police department would not be releasing a statement in the near future, either. “Because of rumors,” Moulder states, “[the campus police] are not going to send out information.” This story will be updated as necessary.