BY ELAINE GOODMAN
Daily Post Correspondent
Sex crimes reported at Stanford University surged to 59 offenses last year, including 33 reports of rape, 25 reports of fondling and one case of statutory rape, according to a new report.
The 59 reports of sex crimes in 2022 compares to 44 in 2021 and 32 in 2020. The numbers are in the university’s annual crime report, released on Friday (Sept. 29).
Crimes reported last year also include two robberies, 20 aggravated assaults, and 25 burglaries. One case of arson was reported. No murders or manslaughter cases were reported at Stanford in 2022.
Statistics in the new report include crimes that occurred on campus or on property next to campus that students use, such as Stanford Hospital and SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
All the sexual offenses reported last year happened on campus, the university said, with 23 of the rapes and 10 of the fondling incidents occurring in student residences.
The 33 reported rapes last year was an increase from 30 in 2021 and 15 the year before. Reports of fondling grew to 25 in 2022, up from 14 in 2021 and 17 in 2020.
Stanford’s Department of Public Safety gathers statistics on certain crimes as required by a federal law called the Clery Act.
Lucia Wade, the university’s Clery compliance coordinator, said that crime rates at Stanford are relatively low compared to cities of the same size.
“Generally, people and their property are safe and secure on campus,” Wade said in a news release.
Wade noted that sexual assault is a concern at campuses across the U.S.
In other crimes, seven hate crimes at Stanford were reported in 2022, compared to two reports in 2021 and 10 reports in 2020. Last year’s incidents included someone hanging a noose outside a dorm, using a rope that had been dangling from a tree on campus for years.
In other reported hate crimes last year, someone scratched the letters “KKK” into a chair in a classroom. A stranger spit on a man who was holding hands with his husband. And someone reportedly slapped a woman who was walking along Campus Drive, grabbing her shoulder, ripping her shirt and commenting on her race.
Stanford received 150 reports of motor vehicle thefts last year, a figure that now includes thefts of e-bikes and electric scooters as well as cars. Before 2022, e-bike and scooter thefts weren’t included in motor vehicle thefts. In 2021, there were 21 motor vehicle thefts reported at Stanford.
Stanford said most of the e-scooters and e-bikes that were reported stolen last year disappeared from bike racks outside residences and dining areas.
Two of the rapes reported last year were allegedly false reports. The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office in March charged Jennifer Gries, 25, of Santa Clara, with perjury and other charges for allegedly lying about being raped on campus in August 2022 and again two months later.
The DA’s office accused Gries, who worked at Stanford at the time, of fabricating the stories because she was angry at a co-worker. Prosecutors noted that the reported attacks triggered campus safety alerts and campus unrest, as students demanded that the university do more to prevent sexual violence.
The next hearing in Gries’ case is scheduled for Oct. 26.