Of all the crimes that happen on a college campus, sexual assaults pose a great challenge for police.

This semester, there have been six reports of criminal sexual assault and three reports of criminal sexual abuse. This count is similar to the number of reports of sexual assault last year at this time. But as Lt. Todd Henert warns, it is impossible to tell if there has been a real change.

“It’s not one of those things where you can map a trend. The number of reports are not indicative of the actual number of cases that occur,” Henert said. According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), 60 percent of sexual assaults and rapes go unreported.

Thus far, one person was arrested for criminal sexual abuse. Henert said Michael Thornton, 18, of Des Plaines, turned himself in with an attorney on Nov. 7 after Thornton had sex with a female who was no more than five years younger than him. Henert declined to comment on further details.

In addition, two cases of criminal sexual assault have been closed, Henert said. One sexual assault case was unfounded while the other victim changed her story as to what happened.

“They probably figured if they change their story, the investigation will be terminated,” Henert said.

Counselor Diane Pospisil-Kinney elaborated on other reasons why victims won’t report it. After being assaulted, the victim will approach someone they trust with their story. The confidant’s reaction to the story can influence whether or not the victim reports it to the police.

Other victims might feel a “sense of shame” even though the crime was not their fault, Pospisil-Kinney said. And other victims might not know or don’t want to know.

“They might be ready or willing to admit it to themselves,” Pospisil-Kinney said.

In addition, Henert said the investigation can be just as traumatizing as the experience itself. And even if an investigation enters the prosecution phase, Henert said it’s “frequently the case of one person’s word against another” as most of the evidence was destroyed. For most cases, the only evidence of the assault is found on the victim’s body, and either washing or waiting too long to report the assault could threaten the outcome of the investigation.

The most important thing to remember about sexual assaults, Pospisil-Kinney said, was that they are rarely made up. The reason why some people don’t believe the victim is because they know the accused.

“It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around the idea of someone we know doing something like that,” Pospisil-Kinney said. “But it’s pretty rare for someone to completely make it up.”

Henert expressed similar sentiments. A case may be administratively closed, he said, but that doesn’t mean the act didn’t occur. It could be closed because of a lack of leads, evidence or cooperation.

“If additional information did come up, those cases would be re-opened, of course,” Henert said.