UC Irvine police still searching for suspect nearly 2 weeks after student raped on campus

IRVINE, Calif. (KABC) -- Nearly two weeks after a student was raped on campus at UC Irvine, police say they have yet to make an arrest.

On Wednesday, several students told Eyewitness News they weren't used to something like this happening so close to home.

Second-year student Esmeralda Pantoja said she's been making sure not to walk alone at night since she heard about the attack.

"It was kind of scary because I personally didn't know until I read the chat that very night, and so it did get me a little bit worried, but I'm very glad I had the friends with me because they were able to walk me back safely," Pantoja said.

According to police, it happened around 11 p.m. on May 16 at Camino del Sol student housing.

The reporting party, who is a student at UCI, told police they were forcefully pushed to the ground and raped while walking in the residential community. The survivor said the suspect was unknown to them.

Investigators said they are searching for a man fitting the following description: Between 35 to 40 years old with a medium build, who was wearing a dark T-shirt and navy blue hat and driving a dark Acura at the time of the sexual assault.

Among the resources campus staff provide for survivors of crimes is Waymakers, which offers services to victims of sexual assault among other things. Program Director Vanessa Reyna said one of the nonprofit's goals is shifting away from putting the responsibility of prevention solely on victims.

During our interview with a student, we realized how easy it was for one to take the responsibility of prevention away from potential attackers.

Student Liliana Gonzalez said she's been extra cautious since she heard about the attack near where she lives.

"I definitely do take precautions, especially here in general, to make sure that I don't put myself in that situation," Gonzalez said.

"Our goal is to start to shift to that culture to remove victim-blaming, and we're doing so by supporting survivors first-hand immediately upon any type of disclosure. We are educating primarily on consent as well as healthy relationships and also bystander intervention, so we want folks to know what consent means, what bodily autonomy means and how to respect that of an individual, how to obtain that consent and empower individuals to know that they have the authority to consent and decline," Reyna said.

"I think that we do, as women, kind of put the blame on ourselves and I hope that the victim didn't do that," Gonzalez said.

A spokesperson with Camino del Sol sent the following statement to Eyewitness News Wednesday:

"We are working closely with local law enforcement as they continue their investigation into this matter. The safety and well-being of our residents and community is our top priority, and we are taking proactive measures to support those impacted. We are partnering with UCI Police to promote the campus Safety Escort program to residents and increase security patrols of the area."

Several students said they had noticed increased security in the area since the night of the attack.