MISSOULA, Mont. — As she tends her inn on the bank of Montana’s Clark Fork River, Meg Estey says she welcomes the federal government’s investigation of 80 reported rapes in three years in the college town she calls home.
MISSOULA, Mont. — As she tends her inn on the bank of Montana’s Clark Fork River, Meg Estey says she welcomes the federal government’s investigation of 80 reported rapes in three years in the college town she calls home.
“I have never in my life felt concerned about my safety in Missoula,” said Estey, an innkeeper at Goldsmith’s Bed and Breakfast. “This is alarming, knowing this is going on in your community. To know the book is being opened and evaluated is a good thing in our minds.”
The Justice Department disclosed the number of sexual assault complaints on Tuesday, while announcing it will investigate how local law-enforcement agencies and the University of Montana responded to rape allegations.
The review is the latest in a string of sexual assault news that has dominated local headlines in Missoula, population 67,000, since December.
Until last week, attention focused on 11 reported rapes in 18 months involving college students at the University of Montana and a string of allegations against players on its football team. The events led to an investigation commissioned by the university and to campus forums, a new code of conduct for athletes and the requirement that all students take online tutorials on sexual assault.
The Justice Department said it is examining whether gender discrimination affected investigations and prosecution of sexual assaults by the university’s Office of Public Safety, the Missoula Police Department and the Missoula County Attorney’s Office.
“Late last year, the department became aware of serious concerns that alleged sexual assaults of women, including but not limited to students at the University of Montana, were not being investigated in a prompt and adequate fashion,” said Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division.
The news sent shockwaves through Missoula, where businesses are preparing for the busiest season of the year in an area famous for its scenic rivers and mountain views, nestled between Yellowstone and Glacier national parks.
“Absolutely we are concerned,” said James Grunke, chief executive officer of the Missoula Economic Partnership. “We want students, citizens and visitors to feel safe.”
“But this is not an ongoing criminal investigation, or that there’s some sort of rapist running around Missoula,” he added. “It’s a review of the process of how sexual assaults were reported.”
Missoula County Attorney Fred Van Valkenburg said he thought federal investigators were overreaching.
“We don’t investigate the reports; we review the investigation that’s been done by law enforcement, and we decide whether there is sufficient evidence to file charges,” Van Valkenburg said in an interview. “We do a good job. We’re not changing anything, and we don’t have anything to apologize for.”
Missoula Mayor John Engen said city agencies would work with the Justice Department.
“I’ve pledged the city of Missoula’s cooperation in ensuring the investigation is thorough and complete,” Engen said at a press conference in Missoula. “I have tremendous faith in the men and women of the Missoula Police Department and no knowledge of any failures on our part to investigate sexual assaults against women.”
The investigation is similar to reviews that found a pattern of gender discrimination in the New Orleans Police Department and mishandling of sex crimes in the Puerto Rico Police Department and the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office in Arizona, the Justice Department said.
Each year, about 2 million people visit Missoula — situated at the confluence of three rivers and surrounded by seven wilderness areas — with half of those spending the night, said Barbara Neilan, executive director of Destination Missoula, the area’s convention and visitor’s bureau.