Third student victim subject to indecent exposure on Palm Ave.

A man parked on W. Palm Avenue exposed himself to a Chapman student who was walking back from Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. This incident led to increased street patrols.

Disclaimer: Due to security concerns, a Chapman student involved in the crime alert has been granted anonymity from The Panther. L. Parker is not her legal name.

Walking back from Dodge College of Film and Media Arts on W. Palm Ave Jan. 21, a man parked in a small, dark-colored sedan exposed himself to L. Parker, a Chapman student. The incident marked the third Crime Alert of Lewd Conduct and Indecent Exposure issued by Chapman University during the 2019-2020 academic year.

Parker approached the car under the impression that the driver parked on W. Palm Avenue – situated near popular eatery, Bruxie, – needed help with directions. The driver was “intentionally exposing himself while engaged in a lewd act.”

Quickly after the exposure, Parker left the scene to call for help. Told that the incident was not a “concern” of Chapman by a Public Safety operator because it occurred off campus, Parker was advised to contact Orange Police Department (OPD).

Crimes that occur off campus need to be filed with OPD, according to Randy Burba, Chief of Public Safety. However, Public Safety can assist with this process.

“(The Public Safety operator) asked me if I still wanted to file a report, but I felt invalid because I didn’t have a license plate number or solid description of the suspect,” Parker said.

Approximately five minutes after the call with Public Safety ended, Parker received a call back from the operator who had explained the situation to her supervisor and was advised to tell Parker to file a report. “There was such a savior complex. The Public Safety officer told me he was glad I got ‘to see what (Public Safety) does on a daily basis’ and that ‘they finally convinced me to file a report,’” said Parker after being originally instructed to contact the OPD.

Parker was also told by a Public Safety officer that, “when you tell this story to your friends, make sure to tell them to always get a license plate number,” which also made her feel guilty, Parker said.

Since the incident, Residence Life and First Year Experience, OPD and DeAnn Yocum-Gaffney, Senior Associate Dean of Students, have been especially supportive and respectful, Parker said.

“I always want to give strong advice about protection and prevention, but it’s not anyone’s fault,” Yocum-Gaffney said. “Sometimes the advice given starts to sound like victim blaming. The only person that did anything wrong is the person that engaged in that horrible behavior.”

A school-wide email issued Jan. 22 by Ricardo Gonzalez, Deputy Chief of Public Safety, informed students of two cases of Lewd Conduct and Indecent Exposure that occurred Jan.16 and 22.

Becca Standt, a junior film production major, received the email while working on the set of an HBO show. Voicing her frustration for Public Safety for “failing to report the sexual assault until it happened twice,” Standt sent a school-wide email response to the crime alert.

“Thanks for waiting to notify the Chapman community until after it happened again,” Standt said in an email Jan. 22.

Crime alerts, similar to the one Chapman students received Jan. 22, are only released if Public Safety sees a pattern, such as several instances occurring or if a certain location is being targeted, according to Burba. However, all crimes are listed online in Chapman’s crime log.

Since sending the email, Standt recognized her email was not the best way to handle her frustration for the issue.

“My response was not the most respectful way to approach this issue,” Standt said. “However, it wasn’t respectful for (Public Safety) to not report the sexual assault in the first place. Historically, women have not been taken seriously or heard unless they speak up in ways that are unconventional.”

Yocum-Gaffney wanted to personally apologize to the students affected by this incident and encouraged students to reach out for support through the resources available on Chapman’s Title IX webpage.

“A horrible part of this crime is how some individuals will engage in abusive, criminal behavior to try to take advantage of someone’s good nature,” said DeAnn Yocum-Gaffney, the Associate Vice President of Student Affairs.

Different strategies have been employed to prevent this incident from happening again, like increasing street patrols, improving communication between the student body and expanding the lighting on Palm Avenue, according to Yocum-Gaffney. Burba also pointed to the expansion of the student safe walk program. The student walk program allows students to be accompanied by student volunteers to walk them to locations on campus. Beginning this semester, two students will patrol Palm Ave. Monday through Friday from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m.

“(Public Safety) has put together a lot of good information about this incident and are working closely with the Orange Police Department. I am pretty confident we are going to catch this person fairly quickly,” Burba said.