Woman reports rape at Foster

A 19-year-old woman visiting a friend at IU reported being raped by four males at Foster Quad early Sunday morning. The woman reported the rape to police at 12:10 p.m. Sunday.\nAccording to a press release sent out by IU Police Department Lt. Jerry Minger, the woman said she was invited to a Foster Quad dorm room Saturday evening where she said she was raped by four men. Minger said the relationship between the woman and the alleged suspects was unknown.\nMinger said the incident is under investigation by IUPD detectives, who are currently in the process of interviewing people who might have additional information. Minger said no additional information could be released due to the pending investigation. He added that he did not know if alcohol was involved.\nThis is the fourth reported rape incident at IU this semester. In January, a female student said she was raped at the Delta Tau Delta fraternity. In February, a woman reported being drugged and raped at Assembly Hall during a basketball game but later retracted the story. Last week, a female reported a rape at McNutt Quad, which is still under investigation. The suspect in the alleged McNutt rape, who has hired an attorney, has not yet spoken with police.\nAs many as 11 rapes have been reported to police in one calendar year, Minger said. According to IUPD statistics, an average of 6.5 reported rapes have occurred at IU per year in the past nine years.\n"Recently, these crimes have been reported in such close time spans," Minger said. "With the Commission of Personal Safety and Office of Women's Affairs, we try to create a climate where victims are comfortable in reporting these crimes."\nDean of Students Richard McKaig, who had not been notified of the incident at press time, said he is worried about the rash of reported rapes on campus.\n"It's certainly something we are concerned about," McKaig said. \nMcKaig said the University has plans to address the issue of sexual assault crimes in an upcoming May program for faculty and students.\n"Each year, (the staff) discusses a different topic pertaining to the campus at large. Last year, we addressed mental health and depression," McKaig said. "(With these incidents), we felt it was important to address issues related to men-women relationships so we can see what can be done to address this problem."\nMcKaig said once a rape is reported to the University, the student must follow the same judicial process as any other student. However, because of the nature of the reported crime, he said the process is often much more time-consuming.\n"We take it very seriously but it can be a very complicated legal matter," he said. "It's almost always a situation where lawyers get involved."\nMinger said he encourages anyone who has any information pertaining to the incident to call the IUPD at 812-855-4111.\n"It's very possible the people on the floor may have heard something," Minger said. "With floor perpetrators, many times they aren't quiet about the things they do. At this point, witnesses are essential."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Lori Geller at lfgeller@indiana.edu.