Second female student assaulted in bed during the night this month

A female university student was the victim of a fourth-degree sexual assault last week when she woke up during the night to find an unknown man touching her, Prince George's County Police said today.

County police said the student reported that she and her boyfriend awoke between 2:30 and 5 a.m. on Sept. 9 to find another man touching her back and buttocks, officers said. The 20-year-old victim had attended a party earlier that evening in the 4700 block of College Avenue; she and her boyfriend slept at the same resident.

County police said the suspect was not a resident of the house but there were no signs of forced entry. The suspect is described as a white male, about 20 years old, wearing a dark shirt and dark pants. He has short, dark hair and weighs around 180 pounds, police said.

Baxter said police have no other details at this point.

Although she reported the crime that night, University Police did not send out the crime alert until the following Friday afternoon. This is the second incident of this nature to occur this month. The first occurred in a female student's Leonardtown apartment on the same morning and around the same time.

Baxter said the second incident has been under investigation since it occurred, although students were just notified today.

"It's my understanding that the university held off [alerting students] because our investigators were still in the preliminary stages of the investigation," Baxter said.

University Police spokesman Capt. Marc Limansky said there is no reason to rule out a possible connection between the incidents.

"Descriptions of the two suspects seem to be different, they're a little off," Limansky said. "It's not beyond the realm of possibility that they're not related. The victims involved were drinking, so it is possible."

Limansky said students should lock their doors and be aware of their surroundings in order to prevent incidents like this.

"When you're in an environment and you're going to sleep and you've been drinking, if there's a way to make sure the doors locked, do it," he said. "You should make sure you're in an area where you're secure and in an environment where you're safe. Going to sleep in a house with a group of people where there was just a party might not be the best idea."