Student Allegedly Sexually Assaulted in Presidents Park

UPDATED 4:32 p.m. for more details

A George Mason University student was was allegedly sexually assaulted on the second floor of Madison Hall, a freshmen co-ed dormitory in Presidents Park, early Sunday morning. According to police records, the alleged victim reported being sexually assaulted by an acquaintance in her dorm room.

According to George Mason University’s Press Secretary Dan Walsch, the incident involved a young couple who were together from late Saturday night into Sunday morning. During the course of the stay “behavior occurred that was unwanted by the female,” said Walsch. The alleged victim then contacted the Mason Police Department.

Currently no one has been charged with any crime involving the incident.

“If we do make an arrest, I’m not saying that one will be, it will be [included in the] blotter,” said Assistant Chief of the Mason Police Department George Ginovsky

According to Ginovsky, the case is still under investigation.

Both the Mason Police Department and the university have been in contact with both parties involved in the incident, according to Walsch.

Students were not notified of the alleged sexual assault via the Mason Alert System, which has received outside criticism from a blogger for the Washington City Paper.

Ginovsky maintains that the case did not warrant the system’s usage, as it did not present a threat to the Mason community.

“The alert system is [meant to be] used as an alert system, not as a breaking news system,” Ginovsky said.

Walsch also believed that usage of the system was not warranted.

“It was not deemed to be a threat to the Mason community . . . because it was contained and isolated to one specific couple,” said Walsch.

According to Walsch, had the alleged sexual assault come from a random attacker where a predator was involved, the Mason campus would have been alerted.

Mason Alert is a notification system used by the university to contact students and other Mason community members during an emergency situation. Messages are sent via text message to users’ cell phones and e-mail accounts. The alert system was put in place after the 2007 Virginia Tech shootings.

According to WUSA9 News, the Mason Police Department is receiving help from the Fairfax County Police with the case.