MSU police are searching for a suspect in a sexual assault that occurred sometime between 11:50 p.m. Friday and 12:10 a.m. Saturday at the north entrance of IM Sports-West.
An 18-year-old female student reported she was standing in a crowd of people waiting to get into a party at the facility when a male suspect placed his hands down her pants and penetrated her vagina with two fingers for several seconds, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.
When an unknown person tapped the suspect on his shoulder, he pulled his hands out of her pants and walked away while the victim ran back to her residence hall.
The victim described the suspect as a 5-foot-9-inch male with a thin build and short black hair. He was wearing a black shirt and a red jacket with black lettering that read “Akademiks.”
Another 18-year-old female student, a friend of the victim, reported spotting the suspect at the party and indicated he was wearing diamond stud earrings in both ears.
McGlothian-Taylor said this is the first sexual assault reported to MSU police this semester.
She said the case is not linked to four attempted sexual assaults that happened late last year because of the nature of the assault.
All of those assaults occurred when a victim was walking alone and a suspect attacked them from behind, while the suspect in Friday’s incident assaulted the victim while she was standing in a crowd.
“This is not a common incident,” McGlothian-Taylor said. “The manner in which this happened is not common to my knowledge.”
McGlothian-Taylor said if students are being sexually assaulted in large crowds, they should attempt to fight back and scream so other people know what is happening.
If police are able to track the suspect, third-degree criminal sexual conduct charges could be filed, McGlothian-Taylor said.
Anyone with information regarding the incident or the suspect should contact MSU police at (517) 432-5666.
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