Carbondale police clarify information about weekend sexual assaults during a community meeting

Carbondale police held a community meeting Monday after a sexual assault was reported Saturday evening.

During the community meeting at the Old Thompson Barn in Carbondale, Police Chief Kirk Wilson said they would provide as much information as possible about the suspect, giving the description as a man in his 30s wearing a black hoodie.

All other information about the suspect is false, Wilson said, and he urged the public to stop spreading rumors about the suspect’s race because they have no information to confirm or deny anything else about her.

“This is not a political thing,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of people making it political online…when people post this misinformation, there’s a human being who’s been through a terrible, traumatic event who’s reading everything that everyone in this community and agitators outside the world.” Community, post.”

Wilson also dismissed misinformation about whether it was a kidnapping.

“This wasn’t a 48-hour incident,” he said. “The time frame is 30 minutes to an hour, more or less, based on her (the victim’s) recollection.”

Wilson stated that they are looking for this person accused of sexual assault and clarified that additional charges will be filed later against this person’s arrest.

Some people in the crowd asked why police didn’t come to the victim’s neighbors to tell them what happened, for their own safety.

“We always have two officers on duty,” Wilson said. “We had one person transported to a medical facility; an officer had to come with me. This allowed an officer to remain on scene and collect evidence before it was lost. Our first and most important responsibility is to preserve the crime scene so that we can hopefully carry out a successful prosecution in the future.”

Wilson said additional officers were brought in to help collect evidence, but the department totals 18 people and 15 sworn officers.

Another question concerned why further information about the incident could not be shared.

“Typically, police do not release information about sexual assault to the public,” Wilson said. “This is to protect several things: First is the victim. There is a victim…if we release all the information about the case just so people are more aware of what’s going on when someone comes in and says they’re the person who did this and If that’s not the case, it will be very difficult for us.”

Some in the crowd were curious whether police had the suspect’s DNA.

“We can collect DNA evidence. Unless this person is listed as a DNA match in the CODIS (Combined DNA Index System) because they have DNA in the system, even the DNA evidence we collected that night will be inconclusive in identifying an individual.” said Lt. William (Bill) Kirkland. “While we have collected DNA evidence, it is sent to a lab for testing, but unless the person the DNA belongs to is in the system… it doesn’t just create a person and tell us who that is. “

Others wanted to know how they knew this sexual assault was not an isolated incident and how the police would protect them.

“Do we know this is an ongoing threat? No,” Kirkland said. “We have no way of saying that this is not the case and we have no way of saying that it is.”

Kirkland said he would like to send a police officer to everyone in the room so people feel safe, but that’s not practical and they can’t.

“Community safety is a shared responsibility,” he said. “We have to protect each other. The police can’t do this for everyone. Do we believe that it is the duty of people to lock their doors and windows? Yes.”

Kirkland said he understands that this is Carbondale: People don’t feel like they want to do this, but that as the community changes, maybe it’s time for things to change.

Wilson said adults are allowed to carry pepper spray, meaning anyone 18 and older, but minors may not be able to, especially on school grounds.

“It’s not that we don’t want to give you information. The information we give you is the information we have,” Kirkland said. “People who are victims of a crime, especially a crime like this, go through a very traumatic experience. It may take some time for her to remember this information.”

Kirkland stated that after arriving at the scene, they spoke with the victim to obtain this information and continue to be in contact with her.

“The information we have is what she was able to give us at that moment,” he said.

Police will provide updates to the public on the City of Carbondale website. People can sign up for alerts at http://www.carbondalegov.org/..