Campus Safety has identified an individual at 12:36 p.m. for inappropriately grabbing a student, according to a text notification sent to students. This update follows a campus-wide text blast sent at 1:34 a.m. alerting students to a reported sexual assault near Bonney Science. The Lewiston Police Department is currently conducting a search near the Bonney Science Center on the western side of the Bates campus.
Students were asked to avoid the area and report any suspicious activity to law enforcement following the initial text blast. A second update was sent to students at 4:02 a.m., confirming that the authorities were unable to identify a subject and urging students to remain vigilant.
After 12 hours, at 12:36 p.m., campus security reported that an individual had been identified and that there was no threat to the community. It was clarified that the situation involved a student being inappropriately grabbed, but it was not disclosed whether the individual involved was a member of the Bates community or not.
According to a statement released by the college to The Student, this morning’s incident falls under the Clery Act’s definition of sexual assault, prompting the timely alert to the community. The college stated that this morning’s incident was not believed to be related to previous incidents where students were notified of a man being detained for indecent exposure on campus.
