Alleged sexual assault of USCB student in her dorm room under investigation, police say
Police are investigating an alleged sexual assault of a University of South Carolina Beaufort student at her Beaufort campus dorm on Tuesday, according to a campus police report.
The student “alleged she was assaulted by a co-worker she invited back to her dorm for the night,” according to a report from the Beaufort Police Department.
She reported the assault took place around 2 a.m. Tuesday.
Chancellor Al Panu sent a notice to faculty and staff Tuesday morning saying “the suspect is known to the victim and is not affiliated with campus.”
The USCB Police Department and S.C. Law Enforcement Division are conducting the investigation.
USCB began fall semester classes on Aug. 20, with approximately 1,200 students taking some form of in-person classes and 800 students completely remote.
The university has 773 residential students in Bluffton and 94 in Beaufort, where its honors dorm is located.
Students in campus housing were tested for COVID-19 by Beaufort Memorial Hospital as they arrived, with 757 students tested between Aug. 15 and Aug. 18.
As of Monday, nine students reported to the college that they had tested positive for COVID-19. Two of those students are on the women’s soccer team, and all 26 members of the team are quarantining, along with five other students.
Over half of sexual assaults in college occur in either August, September, October, or November, according to statistics from RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network).
Police asked that anyone who has information that might assist the investigation call the USCB Police Department at (843) 208-8911.
