A female Georgetown University student was sexually assaulted in the Intercultural Center building on Sunday Oct. 26 at approximately 4:30 a.m., according to an email sent out by the Georgetown University Police Department. The assailant, an acquaintance of the survivor, is not affiliated with Georgetown University.
According to GUPD Chief Jay Gruber, the survivor reached out to GUPD through alternative channels, which he did not disclose, on Saturday at approximately 4:30 p.m., about a week after the incident occurred.
Gruber said that all buildings on campus are supposed to be locked or GoCard-protected at night, but sometimes locks do not work or students prop open doors, preventing the doors from remaining locked.
“The ICC is not supposed to be open 24-7, it’s supposed to be locked down. But sometimes infrastructure doesn’t cooperate with us,” Gruber said.
There are CCTV cameras set up inside the ICC, but the location of the assault in the ICC has not been disclosed.
Gruber said that throughout his time here at Georgetown, he has never seen a similar sexual assault reported.
“In the tenure that I’ve been there, there have been [sexual assault incidents] in residence halls, but to my recollection, there’s never been in an academic or administrative building,” Gruber said.
According to Gruber, Georgetown’s sexual assault protocol allows the survivor to choose whether or not he or she wants GUPD to contact the Metropolitan Police Department.
“If the survivor comes to us and tells us they don’t want to participate in a criminal investigation, then the survivor doesn’t have to,” he said.
As the investigation is ongoing, Gruber declined to comment on any details of the investigation, including whether or not MPD would be involved or whether the survivor will be pressing charges with MPD.
MPD could not provide further information as of press time.