El Camino College student assaulted

After a dance class in the women's gymnasium Tuesday, the woman walked around a corner to a soda machine on her way to meet her mother in a nearby parking lot, El Camino College Police Chief Steve Port said today. A man approached her at knifepoint near the vending machine, took her behind the women's gym to an alcove near the locker room, where he sexually assaulted her for 15 to 20 minutes, Port said.

After the assault, the victim called 911 from her cellphone, Port said, and a campus police cadet walking nearby heard her sobbing and went to help her. The victim's mother, curious about the arrival of emergency vehicles and equipment, left her car and walked over to the area, finding her daughter being attended to by paramedics, Port said.

The woman was taken to a hospital, where she stayed overnight, and evidence was gathered and sent to the county crime lab, Port said. As of Wednesday, she was home with her family, officials said.

Port said the area was "fairly well populated" in the evening. He said police hoped the public would provide tips and that a student might have seen something.

"When he grabs her, he's holding the knife, he has a ski mask on, a hood over the ski mask, all in black dark clothes, a non-police person is still going to see this person and know it's not Halloween," Port said.

Police will try to talk to the woman today and draw a sketch of the suspect.

"It's kind of an oxymoron -- we're going to sketch a guy with a ski mask and hood on," Port said, adding that the process of coming up with a description might spur memories.

Police said they had increased their presence on the 25,000-student campus in Torrance. Students were informed of the assault through e-mail and by bulletins posted on campus, said Ann Garten, a college spokeswoman. They also were reminded about safety measures, such as a courtesy shuttle, she said.

A 1990 federal law requires colleges and universities to notify students in a timely manner about ongoing threats and to disclose crime statistics. The Jeanne Clery Act was named for a Pennsylvania college student who was raped and killed in her dorm at Lehigh University in 1986. Her parents have charged that she should have been informed of the crime problems at the university.

Port said there had been no sexual assaults on campus over the last three years.

"I've talked to sergeants and they can't remember when or if this has happened over the last 10 years, so this is very extraordinary," Port said.

College students are one of the most vulnerable age groups for rape, said Gail Abarbanel, director of the Rape Treatment Center at Santa Monica-UCLA Medical Center. She said about 80% of rapes were committed by an acquaintance.

"Stranger rapes get more publicity," she said. "But there's probably been hundreds of rapes on college campuses this week that nobody's written about."

Anyone with any information is asked to call El Camino College campus police at (310) 660-3100.

tami.abdollah@latimes.com