UT police warn students about fondling incident in dorm

UT police warn students about fondling incident in dorm

November 16, 2006

By ERICA ESTEP
6 News Reporter

KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- The UT Police Department is warning dorm residents about a forced fondling incident over the weekend.

Police sent an email blast to UT students on Wednesday.

According to the police report, a woman told an officer she was sexually assaulted by a man on Sunday, November 12 on the eighth floor of Clement Hall at 4:00 a.m.

The woman says the man was on the elevator in the co-ed dorm when she got on. She says he followed her off the elevator, pinned her to a wall and touched her between the legs. She says he didn't remove her clothes.

The suspect is described as a black male, 5'10", wearing jeans with a dark colored jacket and a ball cap.

The woman reported the incident on November 14 in the hall director's office at the dorm.

The full text of the email warning reads: "In an effort to provide timely and accurate information to our students, staff, and faculty members the following facts are provided: on Tuesday, November 14, the UT Police Department received a report of a forced fondling that occurred in Clement hall by an unknown assailant on Sunday, November 12, 2006, at approximately 4 a.m. The female victim advised that she got into an elevator in clement hall with an unknown male on the third floor. When she got off the elevator on the eighth floor, the male followed her. The male allegedly fondled her, and she fled the area on foot. The victim provided the following suspect information: black male 5'10"jeans, dark colored jacket, ball cap
no other suspect information is available at this time.

"I know not to go out late at night without a group of friends or maybe carrying mace and to stay in well-lit areas, but you would think once you get back to your dorm you'd be safe," Katharyn Basinsky says. 

There are no security cameras in the area where the assault allegedly happened.

There are cameras at the entrances to the dorm. Police are reviewing footage to see if they can pinpoint the suspect.

"We have lots of cameras so it's kind of shocking to know there was somebody just walking around by himself. I don't know. It's scary for me," Kortni Hester says.

"I hope they find out who it was because whoever that was they need to be caught," Erica West says.

Clement Hall is a co-ed dorm that houses men on one side and women on the other. Guests must be escorted at all times.

This is the first time UT police have sent a mass email to alert students about a potential threat.

The captain tells 6 News it's something the department started this year and will continue doing when it's a matter of public safety.