10 percent of UT system female undergrads say they’re rape victims
One in 10 undergraduate women at the University of Texas’ academic institutions report they have been raped since enrolling in college, according to a study released Friday that lawmakers hope will prompt a crackdown on campus violence. Of 28,270 students were surveyed by the University of Texas system. Seventy-two percent of sexual assault victims at UT’s academic institutions reported that they did not tell anyone that they had been raped prior to taking the survey. House Speaker Joe Straus, who hopes the Legislature can collaborate with colleges to reduce instances of rape on campus, called the findings “shocking” and “not acceptable.” The campus findings, community, emailed areto the likely to sharpen the debate in Texas and around the nation over campus sexual violence. The report comes as the state is already reeling over sexual assault scandals at Baylor University.
Construction worker linked to 10 assaults of schoolgirls walking home
On Tuesday, Houston police announced the arrest of a suspect believed to have assaulted at least 10 girls in separate incidents in the past three years in northeast Houston and Harris County. Carlos Jose Ayala, a 35-year-old construction worker, face four felony charges of indecency with a child. Authorities expect to file additional charges, possibly including attempted kidnapping, as they seek other victims. Ayala also was charged with evading arrest after leading police on a short chase on Feb. 17, when officers doing surveillance in the area spotted his car and tried to pull him over near the location of a Feb. 10 assault. The pattern of assaults only became clear in hindsight, investigators said. Attacks were in northeast Houston, many near Interstate 10. A man walked up from behind in broad daylight. Hispanic girls between 7 to 15 were targeted. A dark blue Toyota sedan was seen. And the attacks occurred near schools, including Houston ISD’s Scroggins, Eliot, Pugh and Raul Martinez elementary as well as Harvard Elementary in Galena Park ISD. Officers from the Houston Police Department connected the dots after finding at least four previous incidents near a Wal-Mart a few blocks from Harvard Elementary. It wasn’t until the officers reached out to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office that they realized similar assaults had been reported in 2014 and 2015 in the area but outside the Houston city limits.
Mystery continues after Brady’s missing Super Bowl jersey is found
Houston won uniform praise for its role hosting the Feb. 5 Super Bowl, except for what the city’s police chief called the events “only blemish”: the apparent theft of victorious quarterback Tom Brady’s jersey. Six weeks later, that blot on Houston’s time in the national spotlight was resolved Monday when police and NFL officials said the missing game jersey was recovered in Mexico — along with a second Brady Jersey apparently from his 2015 Super Bowl victory in Arizona and a Denver Broncos helmet possibly worn by linebacker Von Miller in the 2016 championship in California. The memorabilia’s recovery — and discovery — came after a search involving Houston police, an unnamed informant, the FBI, the NFL, Mexican authorities and the Texas Rangers, who were assigned to the case by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. An NFL spokesman only identified the suspect as a “credentialed member of the international media.” But media reports circulated Fox Sports video footage showing a man in a suit and tie leaving the Patriots’ locker room with something tucked under his arm. A Mexican tabloid identified the suspect as an executive who resigned last week citing family concerns. If deemed authentic, each Brady jersey could fetch thousands of dollars at auction. The jersey has been returned to Boston with the FBI and NFL.