Daily Skiff

A female student reported a sexual assault to the Fort Worth Police Department on Thursday, the second sexual assault case reported by a student in less than a month.

The woman told police the assault occurred on Sept. 17, according to the police report. The woman told police that she believed she was given a date rape drug in her alcoholic drink without her knowledge and then sexually assaulted, according to the report.

Sgt. Chad Mahaffey of the Fort Worth Police Department said he could not disclose the location because it could jeopardize the investigation. He declined to say whether the assault happened on or off campus.

Mahaffey said the department had not made an arrest in the case and that the investigation is in progress.

Sgt. Cheryl Johnson, supervisor of the Fort Worth Police Department sex crimes unit, said there was a suspect in the case.

The woman could have taken as long as she did to report the incident because a sexual assault is a very personal crime, Johnson said.

"There's a lot of emotions that go into (reporting the crime)," Johnson said. "Fear, guilt, afraid people won't believe you, not knowing what to do. Sometimes it takes people a little while to process through that."

Johnson said a delayed report could result in lost evidence, but Fort Worth police would not discourage victims from reporting an offense no matter how long the delay. She said she could not talk about whether the delay hurt this particular case.

TCU Police Detective Vicki Lawson referred questions to Assistant Police Chief J.C. Williams. Neither Williams nor Sgt. Kelly Ham could be immediately reached for comment.

A female student who on Sept. 9 reported an on-campus sexual assault involving an acquaintance has not pressed charges, according to campus police. The assault allegedly took place on or around Aug. 30.

The case was still under investigation in the Campus Life office as of Thursday, according to campus police.

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