Women Sexually Assaulted in UC Berkeley Residence Halls

A woman was raped in a Southside residence hall earlier this month, in one of two sexual attacks to take place in a residence hall in the past two weeks, police said yesterday.

The unrelated incidents involved women who were attacked by acquaintances as they slept, police said. In both cases, the victims delayed reporting the crimes until last weekend.

The first rape occurred Oct. 14 in the suspected attacker's dorm room in one of the Southside units.

The victim told police she was talking and drinking a large amount of alcohol with the male attacker until she grew drowsy and fell asleep on his bed.

When she awoke, the man was raping her, said UC police Lt. Adan Tejada.

The man stopped and grew violent after the victim accused him of sexually assaulting her, Tejada said without elaborating on what the attacker did.

The victim did not tell police about the incident until Sunday, after her resident assistant convinced her to file a report.

Police have identified a suspect and are seeking an arrest warrant.

Police would not say if either the suspect or the victim are UC Berkeley students, although they both live in residence halls.

The second attack occurred Thursday, under similar circumstances.

A female visitor to UC Berkeley had attended a fraternity party with friends, where she had been drinking.

The victim left the party with a group of friends and returned to one of the units to sleep, said UC police Capt. Bill Cooper.

The 20-year-old victim passed out on a bed next to her attacker, whom she knew, said UC police Capt. Bill Cooper.

When she woke up, the 21-year-old UC Berkeley student who she was sleeping next to was sexually battering her with his hands, Cooper said. Police would not provide any more information about the battery.

The victim did not report the incident until Saturday.

Police have identified a suspect but have yet to make an arrest as they continue to investigate the case.

The majority of rapes and sexual batteries remain unreported, Tejada said, partly because the largest percentage of attacks are acquaintance situations that involve alcohol.

"Sometimes the victims mistakenly feel some level of guilt for being in the situation and don't report them," he said.

The number of reported rapes in residence halls is very low, Tejada said. He said he could not recall the last time a rape was reported in the residence halls.

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