A HISTORY OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE AT

UC SANTA CRUZ

 

CONTENTS

Facts About Rape on and off Campus

Facts About Stranger Rape

References

 

FACTS ABOUT RAPE ON AND OFF CAMPUS

The incidence of victim-identified rape is 0.3% per year [NIJ 1998].  This translates to at least 24 violent rapes a year in a community of 8,000 female college students.  These victims overwhelmingly report fearing for their life during the rape.

Most rapes are planned, and most rapists pick victims of their own race and socioeconomic class [Douglas and Olshaker 1998].  Approximately 81% of violent rapes are acquaintance rapes

 

 

 

 

 

Some Publicly Reported Acquaintance Rapes

In 1999, a student fell asleep on a couch in a house near campus, and was raped by an acquaintance.  City police later arrested the man.  [Santa Cruz Sentinel]

In 1994, a female student was raped in a campus dormitory by another student.  She reported it, and the campus suspended the man for a few quarters.  He then returned to campus and harassed and threatened to kill the student for the next several years.  Santa Cruz courts denied her a restraining order.  [Santa Cruz Family Court]

 

FACTS ABOUT STRANGER RAPE

Stranger rapes that involve attacks or breaking and entering are extremely dangerous because they can easily escalate to murder.  Former FBI profiler John Douglas gives three categories of rapists [Douglas and Olshaker 1998];  “Anger” rapists and “Power and Control” rapists usually continue until they are incarcerated.

 

 

 

 

Some Publicly Reported Cases of Stranger Rape

I.                    Outdoor Rapes

In 1999, a female student was attacked and raped on one of the fire trails at UC Santa Cruz.  The rapist has not been identified [Santa Cruz Sentinel 1999].

In 1996, a student was attacked and raped by the Porter College bus stop.  Although mountain lion warning signs had been posted all over campus, federally required notices about the rape were not posted for over a month.

In 1986, a 26-year old student was attacked on a trail in Gray Whale Ranch by David Tolofane, an international student in the UCSC farm and garden study project.  She fought back until Tolofane choked her, and said he would kill her if she continued to fight.  She reported the rape immediately after it occurred; Tolofane was arrested and plead guilty after a mistrial. [Mercury News, March 3, 1989].

 

II.                 Break-in Rapes

In 2001, a student reported an attempted assault in a shower in one of the Stevenson College dormitories.  [Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 18, 2001].

In 1999, a man who had been committing break-in rapes in the Seabright area for several years was caught.  Some of his victims were college students.

In 1997, a 21-year old female student was attacked and raped in a residential break-in off-campus.  She immediately notified the police, and gave such an accurate description that he was caught as he was walking down the street.  The man was tried in 1998 and sentenced to 25 years in prison.  The student dropped out of school and left Santa Cruz [Santa Cruz Sentinel 1998].

In 1993, several female students were attacked and raped in residential break-ins on campus.  There were significant problems with the handling of the cases. This became part of a 1993 OCR complaint by students, faculty, and staff at UCSC that the college failed to take seriously reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment.  [OCR Complaint 09-93-2414].

As a result of the complaint, the University implemented a campus sex offense policy that has been widely used as a model for other Universities.

 

III.     Hitch-hiking Rapes

In 1992, a man offered a 21-year old student a ride from downtown at 11 PM.  He pulled onto a side street off Ocean Street, and attacked and raped her  [SJ Mercury News, March 13, 1992].

In 1987, a newly arrived 19-year old student accepted a ride from a campus bus stop, and was attacked and raped. Mitchell Leroy Patterson, a 29-year old transient from Cupertino, was arrested and charged by county Sheriff’s deputies  [SJ Mercury News, January 7, 1987].

In 1979, the body of Diane Steffy, a 21-year old UCSC student, was found on a trail in Henry Cowell Park, 40 minutes after she left Oakes college to visit a friends on Granite Creek road.  The police have speculated that she picked up a hitchhiker, who raped and killed her.  [Santa Cruz Sentinel, January 4, 1983].

Also in 1979, a skeleton was found about 80 feet from a turnout on Jamison Creek Road north of Boulder Creek.  It was identified as the remains of Jennifer McDowell, a 19-year old student who had disappeared from a bus stop on Soquel drive.  The killer has never been identified. [Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 10, 1979].

References