Reports of sexual violence and aggravated assault increased at Ohio State in 2019, according to the university’s annual safety report released Thursday. Credit: Sarah Szilagy | Campus Editor
Stalking, dating violence and aggravated assault are among the crimes that increased on and near Ohio State’s campus in 2019, according to the university’s annual safety report released Thursday.
Reports of dating violence — defined by Ohio State’s Sexual Misconduct Policy as violence committed by an intimate partner with whom the victim does not live or have a child — doubled from 36 in 2018 to 72 in 2019. Incidents of stalking similarly increased 66 percent, from 59 in 2018 to 98 in 2019.
The Clery Act is a federal law requiring universities that receive federal funding to document and annually report crimes that occur on their campuses, on university-owned property, on non-university property used by recognized student organizations, and on public property accessible from campus such as streets and sidewalks. Typically, the U.S. Department of Education requires universities to publish their reports — which tally the previous year’s crimes — by Oct. 1. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the deadline for 2020 was extended to Dec. 31.
University Police Chief Kimberly Spears-McNatt attributed the increase in reported incidents of sexual violence to the university’s sexual violence prevention education resources.
“2019 was the first year that we had all students take in-person and online training,” Spears-McNatt said. “Our population was more informed about how to report those types of incidents involving sexual misconduct and sexual assault.”
Rape, which includes digital and oral penetration, increased on campus for the fourth consecutive year from 93 in 2018 to 118 in 2019 — a near 27 percent increase. Rates of domestic violence also increased for the fourth year in a row, up more than 35 percent from 37 incidents in 2018 to 50 in 2019.
The report also includes instances of reported abuse by former university physician Richard Strauss. Strauss was the team doctor for 17 varsity sports and a physician at the university’s Student Wellness Center from 1978-98. An independent investigation in May 2019 found that Strauss abused at least 177 students and student-athletes during his tenure and that Ohio State failed to act.
Strauss died by suicide in 2005.
Strauss abuse has been included in the report since the 2018 safety report and instances in the report include abuses that were reported to the university in the calendar year 2018.
Instances of reported rape by Strauss increased from 30 in 2018 to 97 in 2019. Fondling instances increased 22 percent from 2018, totaling 1,209 in 2019, and one aggravated assault by Strauss was reported in 2019.
Strauss-related events are counted from the independent investigation, legal filings and complaints, and direct reports to the university.
Aggravated assault increased from 11 in 2018 to 46 in 2019. Spears-McNatt did not identify a specific cause for the increase.
Burglaries on campus decreased from 111 in 2018 to 93 in 2019. In 2018, burglaries saw an increase from 63 in 2017. University spokesperson Dan Hedman said there were three separate crime trends in March, August and December of 2018, each of which resulted in arrests.
“When you’re dealing with relatively small numbers of crimes, a couple of bad actors can make those numbers jump up,” Hedman said.
Spears-McNatt said the 2019 decrease in burglaries could be the result of student education and awareness.
Hate crimes increased from three in 2018 to 12 in 2019, but the increase had no single identifying cause, Spears-McNatt said. There were 10 reported hate crimes in 2017.
There were two reports of murder and non-negligent manslaughter in 2019, up from zero in 2018 and 2017. One occurred at 11th Avenue and High Street, where two individuals were involved in a July altercation and one was killed . The other took place at 9th Avenue and Neil Avenue, where one died from a stabbing on a date unknown at the time of publication.
Arrests for drug law violations increased from 57 in 2018 to 84 in 2019. Arrests and disciplinary referrals for alcohol law violations were similar in 2018 and 2019.
