Editor's note: Jennifer Gries, 25, a Stanford employee, was arrested on charges of two felony counts of perjury and two misdemeanor counts of inducing false testimony in March 2023 in connection with this reported rape and another she claimed occurred in October 2022, which NBC News also covered. Read more here.
A woman reported she was raped in a Stanford University bathroom, police said Wednesday in an alert to the prestigious Northern California campus.
The attack unfolded at about 5 p.m. PT Tuesday by a "parking lot near Wilbur Hall," the Stanford Department of Public Safely said in its schoolwide alert.
The victim "stated she was physically restrained (grabbed) and taken to a restroom where she was raped," according to the statement.
The unidentified woman also said she had seen her attacker “on campus before,” according to the school’s public safety office.
At the time of the alert, the victim hadn't spoken to police directly but rather to a "mandatory reporter, with the intent of sharing additional details with law enforcement."
Stanford defines mandatory reporters as certain employees or people affiliated with the university, including contractors and volunteers, who have legal obligations to report specific crimes.
"The victim has indicated she does not want to speak with law enforcement at this time," the Department of Public Safety said. "No further information about the restroom or where it was located was provided."
It still wasn't clear by Thursday morning whether the woman or the attacker are students, a Stanford spokeswoman said.
