{"id":361216,"date":"2026-09-30T22:20:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T22:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361216\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T22:20:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T22:20:10","slug":"preventing-sex-assault-cases-on-college-campuses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/361216\/","title":{"rendered":"Preventing sex assault cases on college campuses"},"content":{"rendered":"

The topic of sexual assaults on college campuses is in the spotlight following a recent civil lawsuit<\/a> brought forth by a former Cornell University student.<\/p>\n

The woman makes several disturbing allegations, including being raped by several men in 2024.<\/p>\n

The case is being reopened by the Tompkins County District Attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

Cornell says it has agreed to an independent investigation into the allegations.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, the conversation surrounding sexual assault prevention and reporting on college campuses continues.<\/p>\n

Advocates say there is work to be done \u2013 legislatively, at universities, and between parents and their kids at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most dangerous time for young women is 18 to 24,” YWCA Mohawk Valley CEO Dianne Stancato said.<\/p>\n

The Rape, Abuse, & Incest National Network reports that the 2019 Campus Climate Survey found about one in four undergrad women and one in 14 undergrad men experienced rape or sexual assault after enrolling in college.<\/p>\n

Stancato believes sexual assault cases on college campuses often go unreported.<\/p>\n

New York State Police agree.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they’re just scared to come forward,\u201d said New York State Police Senior Investigator Claudio Palleschi. \u201cSometimes they are not. Victims feel like they’re not believed as to what may have happened. But I do believe it is underreported.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police said cases often involve \u201ca lot of drug or alcohol use.”<\/p>\n

And that happens to be where many issues lie when trying to prosecute these cases when it comes to consent.<\/p>\n

A proposed bill would prohibit \u201cthe use of intoxication of the victim as a defense in sex crimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Assemblywoman Anna Kelles has some concerns with how the legislation is written.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of a DA having to prove consent, they would be having to prove intoxication when the root problem is whether or not the victim is actually believed,” she said.<\/p>\n

Affirmative consent to sexual activity is defined in New York\u2019s Education Law as \u201ca knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

It says, \u201csilence or lack of resistance \u2026 does not demonstrate consent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kelles said she would like to see the criminal law reflect this.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we really need is fine-codify existing case law that more explicitly closes the loophole that case law existing already does, but then let’s have that independent investigation,” she said.<\/p>\n

At home, victim advocates said it\u2019s important for parents to teach their children what consent is.<\/p>\n

With the majority of reported cases being female victims, advocates encourage parents to teach their daughters to be careful, and their sons to respect women.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings aren’t yours for the taking,\u201d Stancato said. \u201cYou have to have an affirmative consent to have sex with someone. You’re talking to young men about stepping up, leaning in. I mean, the story, the thing that really, really is so chilling to me is that no one stopped it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police also urge students not to be alone in precarious situations and encourage them to be familiar with campus safety protocols.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the New York State Assembly has formed a working group to gather insight and further examine issues with the state’s laws on sexual assault.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The topic of sexual assaults on college campuses is in the spotlight following a recent civil lawsuit brought…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":361217,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[257,26069,9,11,10,49,51,50,12,308,200],"class_list":["post-361216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-central-ny","tag-melissa-krull","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-new-york-state","tag-new-york-state-headlines","tag-new-york-state-news","tag-news","tag-public-safety","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361216"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361216\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/361217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}