Police at the University of Kansas are investigating the reported rape of a 16-year-old girl last month at an on-campus apartment building that houses the men’s basketball team and other male students.
The victim, who was not a student at the school, was visiting residents at Marie S. McCarthy Hall in Lawrence when she was allegedly raped sometime between 10 p.m. on Dec. 17 and 5 a.m. the next day, officials said Wednesday.
No arrests have been made and an investigation is ongoing. James Anguiano, deputy chief of the university’s public safety office, declined to release any additional information.
James Marchiony, associate athletic director for public affairs, declined comment, referring all inquiries to university police. He did not respond to published reports that all five people listed as witnesses to the reported rape are members of the men’s basketball team.
The Lawrence Journal-World, which obtained a copy of the police report on Tuesday, reports that in addition to rape, the suspect is also accused of contributing to a child’s misconduct, furnishing alcohol to a minor and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The suspect was known to the girl, according to the report, and the suspect allegedly used drugs and alcohol. Responding officers found two glass pipes with residue at the scene.
Eight people were interviewed or listed as witnesses in connection to the alleged rape, including five members of the men’s basketball team, an athletic administrator and two 19-year-old women, the Lawrence Journal-World reports.
Chris Keary, the university’s chief of police, declined to indicate whether the suspect was a University of Kansas student or lived at McCarthy Hall, a three-story building that houses 38 students, according to the school’s website.
Roughly half of the students who live in the building are men’s basketball players, while the remaining half are upperclassmen, nontraditional or transfer students, the Lawrence Journal-World reports.
University police have not forwarded the case to the district attorney as of Wednesday.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Keary told the Lawrence Journal-World. “We believe there is no risk to the campus.”
The University Daily Kansan, a student newspaper at the school since 1904, noted that the rape was reported one day after the last day of fall finals on the campus. The alleged rape was also listed in online crime records supplied by the university’s Office of Public Safety and cited by the student newspaper.
The incident is classified as a “forcible rape,” records show.
The University of Kansas men’s basketball team played Davidson College on Dec. 17 in Kansas City, Mo., defeating the Wildcats 89-71.