Two female UW-Madison students were the victims of recent sexual assaults in the downtown Madison area, police said Tuesday.
The first incident occurred Saturday evening on Langdon Street. A 36-year-old graduate student reported that a stranger followed her into her apartment building and grabbed her buttocks while she was checking her mail at 5:23 p.m., according to a police report.
Police patrolling the area spotted a man matching the victim's description of the perpetrator and arrested Daniel M. Coffee, 21, of Madison. Coffee is tentatively charged with fourth-degree sexual assault.
The second assault happened Monday morning in a parking lot on the 120 block of East Gorham Street. According to a police report, a 20-year-old sophomore said she was getting into her car when a strange man approached her and grabbed her clothing. He then made a sexual gesture with his hips while hugging the victim's chest area before running off.
Police describe the perpetrator as a white male, 19 to 24 years old, 5'8\ to 5'10"" with short blond or light brown hair, blue or green eyes and acne. He was last seen wearing a navy blue hooded sweatshirt, shiny blue nylon shorts and white tennis shoes.
Madison Police Department public information officer Joel DeSpain said it is easy for students to think they are surrounded by their peers, but warned downtown residents to constantly be leery of criminal behavior.
""Certainly we know that there are numbers of people in the downtown area who are not students,"" DeSpain said. ""Students and others should be alert to those who look suspicious and to let us know.""
Ally Cruickshank, chair of Promoting Awareness, Victim Empowerment, a student organization aimed at preventing sexual violence, said details of the incidents show that many students typically fear ""stranger danger"" and late-night assaults.
""What these crimes highlight is the fact that we definitely do have perceptions of what [sexual assaults] look like, and they're kind of stereotyped,"" Cruickshank said. She noted that 93 percent of Wisconsin women who reported being sexually assaulted knew their assailant and that assaults can happen at any time of day.
Cruickshank said it is vital for victims to receive the help and support they need. Students who need help dealing with a sexual assault or rape can call the Dane County Rape Crisis Center's 24-hour hotline at (608) 251-RAPE.
