Student arrested on suspicion of sex assault at KU dorm, released pending more investigation

photo by: Sara Shepherd

Oliver Hall, located at 1815 Naismith Drive on the University of Kansas campus, is pictured Monday, Feb. 20, 2017.

Story updated: 4:54 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018.

A University of Kansas student was arrested overnight at his dorm on suspicion of sexual assault, and later released without being charged.

The 18-year-old man lives in Oliver Hall, 1815 Naismith Drive, according to jail records. That’s where KU police arrested him early Wednesday morning.

The alleged victim, also a KU student, reported to KU police late Tuesday night that the man had touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions in her room in Oliver Hall the previous week, between Aug. 28 and Aug. 30, Deputy Chief James Anguiano of the KU Office of Public Safety said. Anguiano said the students are acquaintances.

After the woman’s report, police interviewed the man and took him into custody, Anguiano said. He said the investigation was ongoing.

The male student was booked into the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of aggravated criminal sodomy and sexual battery, according to jail records.

He was released later Wednesday without being charged. The district attorney’s office has requested that additional investigation be completed on the case, said Cheryl Wright Kunard, assistant to District Attorney Charles Branson.

Anguiano noted that the alleged assault at Oliver Hall is not related to Friday’s incident in which a stranger reportedly groped a female student walking in the 1100 block of Louisiana Street and ran away.

“We are still looking for that suspect,” Anguiano said.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the dates the alleged crimes occurred.

Contact Journal-World public safety reporter Sara Shepherd