Ind., Ill. campuses rank poorly on rape convictions

Indiana and Illinois universities are among the worst in the nation in obtaining convictions for sexual assault.

A Chicago Tribune survey found that police have investigated 171 cases of sexual crimes at six campuses in the two states since 2005, resulting in 12 arrests and four convictions, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The universities the Tribune surveyed were the University of Illinois campuses in Champaign and Chicago, Illinois State University, Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame and IU.

The statistics mean that about one in 14 cases of sex crimes on Indiana and Illinois campuses results in an arrest.

The Chicago Tribune reported that about 33 percent of those arrests end in a conviction.

Nationwide, about one in every four sex crimes cases results in an arrest. Of those arrests, 62 percent are convicted, the Chicago Tribune reported.  

Russlynn Ali, assistant secretary for civil rights in the U.S. Department of Education, told the Tribune these statistics are part of a larger trend.

“I say this, albeit with a very heavy and saddened heart,” Ali said. “These kinds of data are illustrative of the disturbing and alarming trend we are seeing across this country.”

Three universities did not report any convictions, and IU had only one.

Last week, Hai “Howie” Yu was convicted in a brutal sexual battery and criminal confinement case, the only IU sexual crime allegation to result in a conviction since 2005.

The Chicago Tribune also cited the case of IU student Margaux Janda, who accused a fellow IU student of rape in 2006. Police did not press charges against her alleged attacker, and the University suspended him for a year.

An investigation by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights found that IU had acted “promptly and appropriately,” but Janda still left IU.

“Part of me wonders why someone would even bother making a report,” she told the Tribune. “What’s the point in going to police if they don’t do anything about it? It almost makes me feel worse.”

— Zach Ammerman