Mustang Daily Staff Report
news@mustangdaily.net
San Luis Obispo police are investigating a report of sexual assault near Cal Poly’s campus earlier this month, but the department is reluctant to release information because of the involvement of a minor.
Police received a sexual assault report during the afternoon of March 1 from the 100 block of Grand Avenue, according to police logs. Lt. John Bledsoe said detectives have not yet determined if a crime occurred, but said a 14-year-old was involved in the incident.
“It’s still being investigated, we haven’t even determined if a crime has been committed,” Bledsoe said.
Bledsoe would not say in what capacity the minor was involved.
University Police Department (UPD) Chief George Hughes, who is out of the office until Thursday, wrote in an email that university police were unaware of the incident.
This is the second case since October in which a sexual assault was reported near campus to the San Luis Obispo Police Department (SLOPD) and university police learned about it through media reports.
In October, SLOPD received a call reporting a sexual assault at a Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house. Minutes later, officers labeled the investigation as unfounded because they could not make contact with the woman who made the original report.
University police learned about the pre-Halloween weekend report from media reports and later contacted San Luis Obispo police. Student Life and Leadership also launched an investigation, but did not find any evidence that a sexual assault occurred at the fraternity house.
San Luis Obispo police told Mustang Daily in October that they were not sure telling the university or fraternity about the alleged sexual assault was the best thing that could have been done at the time.
San Luis Obispo Police Sergeant Fred Mickel said generally SLOPD will inform campus police of cases in the immediate area around Cal Poly.
“Most cases, especially if they involve students from campus, we’re generally going to involve UPD because they work hand in hand with them,” Mickel said. “Especially so they can get additional information out to campus to help with safety.”
Mickel said SLOPD could share info with campus police even if a minor was involved in a case, but neither organization would typically put out a press release or campus announcement in that instance.
Sean McMinn contributed to this staff report.