sexual assault

Florida Tech at risk of being fined millions of dollars for under-reporting crimes

January 13, 2020 by Olivia McKelvey 7 Comments

By Olivia McKelvey, Emily Walker and Kevin Boodoosingh

This story was written as a collaboration between FLORIDA TODAY and The Crimson. FLORIDA TODAY investigative reporter, Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon, worked alongside Crimson reporters: Emily Walker, outgoing editor-in-chief of The Crimson and 2019 graduate, Olivia McKelvey, incoming editor-in-chief of The Crimson (class of 2020) and Kevin Boodoosingh, managing editor of The Crimson (class of 2020). They collaborated to make records requests, consult experts and interview students who had reported crimes.

In collaboration with FLORIDA TODAY, the daily newspaper serving Brevard County, reporters uncovered at least 41 reported crimes that were not included within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, an error that could cost the university millions of dollars.

The Department of Education is able to fine universities $57,317 per incident of under-reporting, and with at least 41 incidents of under-reporting at Florida Tech—and the potential for there to be more—the university could be fined roughly $2.3 million depending on whether or not the Department of Education conducts an investigation and determines an outcome.

Data Analysis

An investigation conducted by FLORIDA TODAY working alongside Crimson reporters led to the discovery of additional under-reporting of crimes other than just rape and hate crimes. Reporters cross referenced reports of crime from Melbourne police records, Palm Bay police records and Florida Tech’s campus security crime logs from 2016 through 2018 and compared them to what statistics were published in the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports. The Brevard County Sheriff’s Office did not provide records after multiple attempts to contact them.

Data revealed that there were at least 41 cases of reported crimes not included in the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports in multiple categories, including rape, stalking, dating violence, aggravated assault, arson, robbery, burglaries and motor vehicle theft. Since data could not be obtained from the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, the number of underreported crimes could be higher.

There were zero reports of incidents falling under the categories counted as hate crimes, despite at least one incident of vandalism that was investigated by Melbourne police as a hate crime.

Drug and liquor law violations, as well as weapons violations, were not examined for this data analysis.

In emails sent by Florida Tech security officers to local law enforcement agencies such as Melbourne Police Department and Palm Bay Police Department, reports of rape, sex crimes, domestic violence and stalking were not requested—all of which are categories that must be requested under Clery law. Although these categories were not requested, both law agencies provided Florida Tech with those particular statistics from 2016 through 2018. The majority of these statistics were not included within Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

“The problem looks like one of a very sloppy process,” said S. Daniel Carter, the president of Safety Advisors for Educational Campuses, LLC and who worked with the Department of Education as a key player in writing federal regulations for the Clery Act.

Carter also mentioned that the under-reporting of crimes and unorganized method of obtaining data is a common theme nationwide at universities. He also said that the university could still be held liable by the Department of Education for “lack of administrative capacity.”

Florida Tech Clery Act Violations

The Clery Act is a federal law that requires federally funded colleges and universities in the United States to publish statistics regarding reports of crime on and around campuses annually. Clery law requires that all reports of crime must be published within the annual report, regardless of whether or not charges were pressed.

Due to the fact that Florida Tech receives federal funding, it is required to publish an annual security report for both students and employees every Oct. 1. This report covers the past three years of data. The most recent report included data from 2016 through 2018.

Florida Tech gathers data from campus security, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office, Melbourne Police Department and Palm Bay Police Department.

Since the annual report was released, three students have come forward with reports of rape on campus that were not counted in the annual report. Additionally, another student has come forward with a report of a hate crime that was not cited within the annual report.

Each incident of a failure to include a reported crime in the annual Clery report can result in the U.S. Department of Education imposing a fine of $57,317.

The Voices

Four students have come forward to share three reports of rape and one of vandalism. Two have chosen to remain anonymous while two have gone on record with their names.

Those with reports of rape all shared similar feelings of invalidation when seeing that their reports of rape, all of which occured between 2016 and 2018, were not included within the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

“The fact that it wasn’t reported—it’s sad,” one rape survivor said. “Like I say, it just goes to show that they only really care about the money they’re getting from us.”

In addition to issues with under-reporting within the annual report, the students brought up concerns regarding the lack of assistance they felt they were given from the then Florida Tech’s Title IX coordinator, Linda Jancheson, as well as accounts of what they described as “victim shaming” during initial investigations from campus security.

“Even if you didn’t sign off on [the report] or you didn’t know that the underreporitng was happening, you are the head of the Title IX office,” said Nicole Farnsworth, a 19-year-old forensic psychology student who reported her statutory rape to Melbourne police in 2018. “You have a job to do and you haven’t been doing that job.”

Another student, who was raped on campus in 2017, said campus security asked her questions regarding what she was wearing.

“I felt victim shamed,” she said. “I lost complete respect for the school.”

Evangeline Archer, a transgender aerospace engineering student, said her car was parked on campus in November 2018 when she found it spray-painted with slurs. Both campus security and Melbourne police took pictures and made reports of the incident. Melbourne police investigated the incident as a hate crime, yet it was not listed in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports.

“I feel like [Florida Tech], they’re very supportive of the LGBT community until there’s something they have to actually do,” Archer said in an interview with FLORIDA TODAY.

University Response

Florida Tech President T. Dwayne McCay told FLORIDA TODAY that it was “difficult to justify incompetence and gross negligence.”

McCay also said that an internal investigation is currently underway.

Frank Iannone, Florida Tech’s director of security, said that he first became aware of discrepancies in the data in August of 2019 and all available crime data is being reexamined.

“I’m telling you right now, this won’t occur again,” Iannone told FLORIDA TODAY.

McCay said the university will implement changes such as retraining and employee turnover. Additionally, after the internal review is complete, an external reviewer will be contracted this year.

While McCay said that the university has no indication that anyone intentionally altered the data, he added in the FLORIDA TODAY interview, “Some people just didn’t do their job. And those people’s jobs are in jeopardy.”

Since FLORIDA TODAY’s publication on Jan. 10, an email was sent to the student body from Patrick Healy, Florida Tech’s general council, alerting them that Fanak Baarmand, Florida Tech’s risk and compliance manager, had been assigned as the new Title IX coordinator.

Florida Tech’s online staff directory shows Jancheson is currently employee relations manager in Human Resources.

Jancheson did not respond to requests for interviews from FLORIDA TODAY and The Crimson.

Implications

Moving forward, one student whose rape went unreported in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports said, “All I can do now is hope that the university will truly recognize how wrong this is and people will be aware.”

According to McCay and Iannone, administration plans to request to re-open Florida Tech’s crime statistics on the Department of Education website to enter the corrected data while providing a disclaimer as to why corrections were made. A new 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports will then be issued out to all students, staff and faculty.

McCay told FLORIDA TODAY that he was “ashamed” of what has happened and went on to state, “I don’t know what to do about it, except repair it, fix it. And, and I apologize.”

If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline 1-800-656-4673

Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526

National Domestic Violence Hotline 1-800-799-7233

Florida Tech fails to acknowledge reports of rape required under federal law

November 24, 2019 by theCrimson 21 Comments

By: Emily Walker, Olivia McKelvey, Kevin Boodoosingh

Florida Tech failed to acknowledge multiple reports of rape within the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports under the Clery Act.

The Campus Crime Statistics lists zero sex offenses have occurred in the in the past three years. If there have been cases of sexual assaults that were not included in the crime statistics, then that is a violation of the Clery Act.

Two students have come forward with accounts of rape and how they reported their cases through Title IX and Security.

Their cases did not appear on the Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, which is in violation of the Clery Act.

What is the Clery Act:

In 1986, Jeanne Clery, a student at Lehigh University, was raped and murdered in her residence hall.

Four years later, the Crime Awareness and Campus Security Act of 1990 was established in order to create accountability for reporting violent crimes and providing transparency on campus crime statistics.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act—the Clery Act— is a federal law requiring United States colleges and universities to disclose information about crime on and around campuses.

Due to the fact that Florida Tech receives federal funding, it is required to publish an annual security report for both students and employees every Oct. 1.

What is included within the Clery report:

Florida Tech’s Office of Safety and Security prepares an annual report in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies such as Melbourne Police Department, Palm Bay Police Department and the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.

Other university departments also work in collaboration with compiling crime reports and statistics such as the Title IX office.

The report is required to include data from the past three years on the following crimes:

Criminal homicides such as murder and non-negligent manslaughter and negligent manslaughter
Sex offenses such as rape, fondling, incest and statutory rape
Arrests and judicial referrals for liquor law violations, drug abuse violations and weapons law violations
The “other” category, which includes robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, motor vehicle theft and arson
The Violence Against Women’s Act—VAWA—is an amendment within Clery that expands the rights to campus survivors of sexual assault and includes the following crimes:
- domestic violence
- dating violence
- stalking
Hate crimes, which include offense definitions relating to hate/bias-related crime, larceny, simple assault, intimidation and destruction/damage/vandalism of property

Clery cites that the following individuals on campus are Campus Security Authorities—also known as mandated reporters— a term created by the Clery Act that encompasses groups of individuals and organizations at Florida Tech:

Dean of Students
Director of Security
Security Department
Title IX Coordinator
Senior Vice President for Academic Administration
Chief of Staff
Athletics Director
Athletic Coaches
Office of Student Life
Director of Student Housing
Other Campus Security Authorities that have a “significant responsibility for student and campus activities.”

Clery geography:

Another factor Clery examines when categorizing data is geographical location of a specific crime.

Clery includes both on-campus and non-campus locations within the report.

An on-campus location is defined as any building or property owned or controlled by an institution, such as an academic building or dorm.

Non-campus geographic location can refer to any Florida Tech owned entity that is frequented by students.

The non-campus definition also includes campus leased or rented spaces for an event that was sponsored by the university or any building or property owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by the institution.

How Florida Tech violated the Clery Act:

In the 2019 Annual Security and Fire Safety Reports, all sex offenses, including rape, were cited as zero for the past three years.

According to definition in Florida Tech’s 2019 Annual Safety and Fire Report, rape is defined as “the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.”

An anonymous student has gone on record and said that her rape, which occurred in 2018 on campus, was not included in the Clery report.

“I went into the Title IX office because I wanted this put down on record,” she said. “I wanted them to know that women are being assaulted and raped on this campus.”

The student went to the health center and Counseling and Psychological Services, neither of which are mandated reporters.

She later went to Linda Jancheson, the Title IX coordinator, who reports to, as listed in Florida Tech’s organizational chart, VP/General Counsel.

“I spent 20 minutes waiting in the Title IX office, five minutes in Jancheson’s office and I left with three extra papers that I didn’t know what the hell meant,” the student said.

The student later talked to another Campus Security Authority and discussed her options with Security.

She ultimately decided not to take action against her rapist and no charges were filed in this case.

Despite the student not taking action, according to Frank Iannone, director of security, whether or not a victim decides to pursue charges, a report is made regardless of the outcome.

When asked how many cases of rape have been reported to Jancheson for the past three years, she said, “I do not know the exact numbers.”

When asked how many Title IX reports Jancheson handed over to Security to include within this year’s Clery report, she said, “I do not know.”

The Title IX coordinator was asked these same questions two times, in two separate interviews, and responded with “I do not know,” in each instance.

Jancheson went on to say that she was not in the Title IX coordinator position when reports were made last year in 2018, though her start date was February of 2018.

Another anonymous source was raped in 2017 on campus and reported her rape to Security in 2018.

The student went through an investigation and disciplinary hearing, which took over one year and resulted in disciplinary action for her rapist.

This student’s rape was also not included within this year’s Clery data.

“Sitting down with two security officers not once, but twice to relive the details of my rape in depth and on record was anything but a warm environment as a victim,” she said.

After her initial report, the student heard nothing for five months regarding the investigation and the scheduling of the disciplinary hearing.

“It was the worst experience of my life,” she said. “The process of reporting it was nearly as bad as my actual rape.”

It is not immediately known whether or not campus security filed these two reports of rape with local law enforcement.

Both sources will remain anonymous. The Crimson does not disclose the names of sexual assault survivors.

Repercussions for violating Clery:

According to a press release from the National Association of Clery Compliance officers and professionals, as of February 2019, the new amount that the U.S. Department of Education can impose for noncompliance with the Clery Act is $57,317 per violation.

In 2016, Penn State was fined 2.4 million dollars for having been “out of compliance” for 11 serious cases dating from 1998 to 2011.

In 2018, the University of Montana was fined $966,614 for “inaccurate and misleading crime statistics” from liquior law violations to cases of rape between 2012 and 2015.

Two anonymous students at Florida Tech have come forward to discuss their rapes in 2017 and 2018 and how they reported it to Security.

Those cases have not been cited within this year’s Clery report.

Iannone said that from the statistics that are provided within this year’s Clery report, he feels the numbers accurately represent the campus.

If you have made a report to Security or Title IX and feel it has not been handled correctly, visit endrapeoncampus.org/the-clery-act to file a complaint.

As a student-run newspaper, your voices are extremely important to us.

If you feel you have experienced something similar as described in this piece and would like to speak with us, please contact us at crimson@fit.edu.

National Sexual Assault Hotline -1-800-656-4673
Women’s Center Counseling 321-242-1526