According to CNN, a rapist who stalked college students in their off-campus housing at the University of Kansas and Kanas State University between 2000 and 2008 may be active again.
Curiously, although the rapist struck again at the KSU campus in July 2015, Brad Schoen, director of the Riley County Police Department, did not come forward until Thursday to ask for the public’s help in tracking the accused rapist.
“A lengthy investigation into the incident has led us to conclude there is a high probability that the assailant is the same assailant from the previous cases,” Schoen said.
The man is said to be white, of average height, heavy set with a large belly, and at least 33 years old. He wears a mask, carries a gun, and almost always strikes off campus and during breaks in the school year calendar. He is said to be responsible for as many as 14 rapes, nine in Manhattan, five in Lawrence.
Authorities are now actively looking for women who may have been victimized by this attacker in the years after 2008. They have dedicated a website, www.kansascollegerapist.com, to his capture on which they have posted relevant information for possible victims.
CNN did an extensive report on this series of crimes in 2009. The report seems blessedly free of the progressive rhetoric that has clouded talk of sexual crimes on campus in the years since. There is no reference to a “campus rape culture,” no talk of candlelight vigils, no storming of the president’s office with demands for new courses or programs. Instead, there were serious warnings issued and invitations extended to participate in self-defense classes.
Campus authorities have allowed rape to be politicized, but it is good police work, not progressive hand-wringing, that will bring this rapist to justice.