A UW-Madison senior was sexually assaulted in her campus-area apartment Friday.
The crime occurred Friday morning at about 4:53 a.m. The 22-year-old victim said she woke in her bed in the middle of the night to find a male stranger laying on top of her and groping her.
She screamed and the intruder fled. She chased him to the door and locked it.
The victim and her roommate, who along with a third roommate was home at the time, said they were not sure they had locked their apartment door that night. They said they want other women to know about the incident so they can prevent it from happening again.
\Lock your doors-that's our take-home message from the situation,"" the roommate said.
There were no signs of forced entry to the apartment, according to the police report.
Police have not located the suspect, described as a white male of unknown age, 6' to 6'3"" with a muscular build.
Madison Police Sgt. Ann Lehner said Sunday she could not comment on the case, which is still under investigation. However, Lehner reiterated the importance of locking doors and windows to deter criminals from targeting people in their homes.
""It would appear obvious that, you know, securing doors and windows are a way from preventing these types of incidents from occuring,"" Lehner said.
A case of sexual assault in which the perpetrator enters a stranger's home is unusual in Madison, according to UW-Madison senior Jennifer Cinelli, chair of the advocacy group Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment.
""We find that on campus the majority of assaults are acquaintance assaults by people that ... [survivors are] either friends with or know through friends,"" Cinelli said.
Cinelli said counseling is available at the Rape Crisis Center campus site at 905 University Ave., the 24-hour rape crisis hotline at 251-7273 and a support group that meets Tuesdays from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Campus Women's Center in the Memorial Union.
