Content Warning: This article contains references to sexual assault.
The Emory Wheel meets with Emory Police Department (EPD) Records Manager Ed Shoemaker (87G, 90G) and EPD Communications Director Morieka Johnson and uses EPD’s public Crime Log to inform the Emory University community about recent crime on and around Emory’s campuses. To report a crime, contact EPD at 404-727-6111 or police@emory.edu.
Theft by extortion
EPD received a complaint on Aug. 31 from a male student living in Harris Hall. The student said he was being extorted after sending and receiving sexually explicit pictures over Snapchat. The recipient of the photos took screenshots and threatened to send the pictures to his friends and family if the student did not pay them $600. The student ultimately paid the amount requested.
The case was assigned for investigation. Shoemaker said EPD does not know the identity of the person who was extorting the Emory student. Shoemaker added that while the nationality of the Emory student is unknown, this type of extortion is typically targeted at international students.
“We get, I don't know, maybe a dozen situations like this every year where someone engages online with somebody in an explicit way and gets burned in this fashion, sometimes for a lot more than $600,” Shoemaker said. “The only advice I can give is don't do that.”
Sexual battery
A female employee of Emory University Hospital at Wesley Woods notified EPD on Aug. 29 that on the previous evening, a male co-worker “slapped her on the butt” while they were alone in a storage closet retrieving supplies.
The woman told her co-worker not to do that, to which the male responded that her “cakes look good” and he would continue doing it. The woman responded that she was happily married, and she tried to leave the closet when he slapped her three more times. She raised her voice loud enough to be heard outside of the closet and told the man to stop touching her. The male responded that he would stop because he is also happily married.
The woman alerted her supervisor and human resources about the incident, and the two employees were separated into different units at Wesley Woods. According to Shoemaker, the woman is considering pressing charges. It is unclear if the man will be fired because Emory Healthcare is currently conducting an investigation, Shoemaker added.
Stalking
A female undergraduate student anonymously reported on Aug. 28 that she was being stalked by a male Emory student. The two had a class together during the 2022-23 academic year, and the male student repeatedly sat next to the female student and made unwanted physical contact with her.
Last academic year, the female student went to The Office of Student Conduct and received a mutual stay-away order. This is not a legal order but is binding under Student Conduct within the University’s parameters, according to Shoemaker.
The female student’s roommate found the male student walking through her room on Aug. 20 while the complaining party was absent, which violated the stay-away order and made the complaining party feel unsafe. After this, she reported the case to EPD, which classifies the situation as stalking.
“It’s a series of actions undertaken by someone which could reasonably be expected to place the other party in emotional distress or fear for their physical well-being,” Shoemaker said. “In this case it seems to be both. So we would be happy to address those concerns with her if she were to get in touch with us. At this time, she hasn't. She's trying to work through [Student] Conduct and Title IX.”
If you or someone you know experienced sexual assault, you can access Emory’s Title IX resources at https://equityandcompliance.emory.edu/title-ix/index.html and the Office of Respect at https://respect.emory.edu/ or their hotline 24/7 at (470) 270-5360. You can reach the RAINN National Sexual Assault hotline 24/7 at (800) 656-4673 or https://hotline.rainn.org/online. You can reach the Atlanta Grady Rape Crisis Center crisis hotline 24/7 at (404) 616-4861 or gradyrapecrisiscenter@gmh.edu and the Decatur Day League Sexual Assault Care and Prevention crisis hotline 24/7 at (404) 377-1428.
