Police still searching for suspect in alleged U of U sexual assault

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH – Investigators are still searching for a man that they believe was behind a sexual assault on the University of Utah campus.  They say it occurred west of the Marriott Library, but, they’re keeping quiet about other details of the case, for now.

So far, investigators have not released much about the assault, and even less about the people involved.  They believe it happened west of the Marriott Library at roughly 10:30 p.m, and they were called to investigate about 90 minutes later.

Apart from that, nothing was initially released about the victim or the suspect.

Police believe this case will not unfold as quickly as many people would like.  University of Utah Police Lieutenant Brian Wahlin says these kinds of assault cases are “victim driven” which means they have to give the victim time to compose herself for a police interview.

“She wouldn’t be able to present, accurately, the type of information that we would be requiring at this time,” Wahlin says, adding, “In order to allow our victim, in this case, time to work through that trauma and get through the event that she’s been through, it would require at least two sleep cycles for her.”

However, Wahlin says there are other ways they can track down leads.  He says they’re focusing their efforts on using the technology they have on hand.

In the meantime, Wahlin says they’re beefing up security and offering courtesy escorts for anyone who feels they need one.

“We’ve increased patrols and called in additional manpower to ensure the safety of our campus and to help with any information that may be coming into our department at this time,” he adds.