Criminal Activity
The following legal definitions are provided to assist in understanding when behavior
that violates College policy may also violate federal or state law. If you believe
you have been a victim of a crime, please consider taking action to preserve any evidence
that may be helpful to you in pursuing legal or protective action. You have the right
to pursue both the criminal and the campus processes to address incidents which may
violate both the law and campus policy. The campus process is not designed to be a
substitute for the criminal justice process. You can also review or print a brochure of your rights and options.
a. Sex Offenses, defined by the FBI as any sexual act directed against another person without the
consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving
consent. This includes:
- Rape: 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.
- Fondling: the touching of the private parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification,
without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable
of giving consent because of his/her age or because of his/her temporary or permanent
mental incapacity.
- Incest: Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within
the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law
- Statutory Rape: Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent
b. Domestic Violence: As defined in section 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C.
13925(a)), domestic violence means a felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed
by:
- A current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim,
- A person with whom the victim shares a child in common,
- A person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or
intimate partner,
- A person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family
violence laws of the jurisdiction receiving grant monies [under VAWA], or
- Any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s
acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction
c. Dating Violence: As defined in section 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C.
13925(a)), dating violence means violence committed by a person who is or has been
in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim; and where
the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration
of the following factors: the length of the relationship; the type of relationship;
and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
d. Sexual Assault, defined in the State of Illinois as “Sexual penetration by force or threat of force
or an act of sexual penetration when the victim was unable to understand the nature
of the act or was unable to give knowing consent.” (720 ILCS 5 Criminal Code of 1961
§ 12-13) Illinois State Law defines sexual penetration as: “Any contact, however slight,
between the sex organ or anus of one person by an object, the sex organ, mouth or
anus of another person, or any intrusion, however slight, of any part of the body
of one person or of any object into the sex organ or anus of another person, including
but not limited to cunnilingus, fellatio, or anal penetration. Evidence of emission
of semen is not required to prove sexual penetration.” (720 ILCS 5 Criminal Code of
1961 §12-12(f))
e. Stalking: Section 40002(a) of the Violence Against Women Act of 1994 (42 U.S.C. 13925(a)) defines
stalking as: engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would
cause a reasonable person to fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others
or suffer substantial emotional distress. (For the purpose of this definition, “Course
of conduct” means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the
stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device,
or means follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about,
a person, or interferes with a person’s property. “Substantial emotional distress”
means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily,
require medical or other professional treatment or counseling. “Reasonable person”
means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with a similar identity
to the victim.
Campus Policy