Sexual assault allegations raise concerns

Zach Calef and Wendy Weiskircher

The Story County attorney will make a decision this week whether charges will be filed against the ISU student who lied about being raped by four men.

A white female ISU sophomore, whose name has not been released, told Department of Public Safety officials last week she was abducted from campus and taken to a wooded area where she was sexually assaulted by four black men.

The student has not been charged with a crime. Filing a false report is punishable by up to a year in jail.

The false allegation may enforce a stereotype that black males commit violent crimes – and a minority leader on campus said the woman should be charged.

“Basically, she should face charges,” said Robert Price, president of the Black Student Alliance. “She should not be able to do this and not face consequences.”

Price, senior in management information systems, said he does not think the woman’s allegations reflect a campus-wide stereotype.

Capt. Gene Deisinger, with the special operations unit for DPS, said the department never made an arrest. He said the woman never named a particular person as an assailant.

“There was never any suspects, [and there was] never a viable suspect,” he said.

Deisinger said DPS officials realized the woman had made a false claim by investigating scenes where she said she had been and through interviews.

Deisinger said three agencies were directly involved with the case – Ames Police Department, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigations and DPS.

It is not common for women to falsify sexual assaults, Deisinger said. He said DPS takes all reports of sexual assault “very seriously.”

“We investigate fully, assuming all allegations are true,” Deisinger said.