UHH student recants story of campus sex assault

Subscribe Now Choose a package that suits your preferences.
Start Free Account Get access to 7 premium stories every month for FREE!
Already a Subscriber? Current print subscriber? Activate your complimentary Digital account.

A 19-year-old University of Hawaii at Hilo sophomore who told police she fended off an attempted sex assault in a campus bathroom last week has recanted her story.

A 19-year-old University of Hawaii at Hilo sophomore who told police she fended off an attempted sex assault in a campus bathroom last week has recanted her story.

Capt. Robert Wagner of the Hilo Criminal Investigation Division said that an investigation was opened Monday into possible charges of filing a false police report, but the young woman, who is from Oahu, had not been charged.

“Basically, she said it never happened,” Wagner said. “It stemmed from some inconsistencies relative to the original report that when we looked into it further, we eventually discovered it being untruthful.”

The woman told police she was attacked in the the geography building classroom at UH-Hilo at around 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 19. She described the alleged attacker as a Caucasian man in his early 20s, 6-feet-tall, 160-180 pounds with a thin build, curly blond hair and facial acne, and wearing a white tank top and black surf shorts.

She said the alleged assailant fled in an older red Ford Explorer with tan or gold on the bottom.