Sexual Offense Advocates

The Keystone College Sexual Offense Advocate Response (S.O.A.R) team is made up of members of the campus community who have been trained to serve as advocates and assist sexual assault survivors.

What to Do If You Have Been Sexually Assaulted

1. Get to a safe location and call or talk to a trusted friend about the sexual offense.

2. If the sexual offense has occurred recently, the survivor should try to preserve evidence of the offense. To preserve evidence of the offense, the survivor should not shower or bathe, urinate, douche, or change clothing before going to the hospital. If clothing has been changed, it is important to place the clothing worn during the offense in a pillowcase or paper, not plastic, bag and bring that and any other items involved in the offense.

3. Regardless of where the assault occurred, all survivors can contact a S.O.A.R. team member through a Resident Assistant, Resident Director or Commuter Assistant.

4. The survivor can seek immediate medical attention at an area hospital. A representative from the Women’s Resource Center or the Victims Resource Center can/will be present at the hospital to offer support and counseling.

NOTE: All reports of a sexual offense taken at a hospital will be reported to the local police agency by law; this does not mean the survivor has to press charges.

How a S.O.A.R. Team Member Can Help

The S.O.A.R. Team members are volunteers who have been trained to serve as advocates and assist sexual assault survivors in several ways:

• Getting medical treatment
• Reporting the sexual assault
• Receiving counseling, on or off campus locations
• Changing your campus living situation
• Handling academic concerns

A survivor can contact any S.O.A.R. team member after normal business hours by contacting the Department of Campus Safety office at on-campus ext. 8989. The on-duty Campus Safety Officer will contact a S.O.A.R team member and will not ask any specific information other than a phone number where you can be reached. The S.O.A.R. team member will call you back.

When contacted, a S.O.A.R. team member will advise the survivor of his/her on or off-campus counseling options, explain resources available to the survivor, limits of confidentiality, and the options for reporting the sexual offense:

• Choosing not to file any report.
• Choosing to file an anonymous report. Any survivor who requests to file an anonymous report may do so with any S.O.A.R. team member. No names are used on this report which is for statistical purposes only.
• Choosing to file a formal report with the Department of Campus Safety or State Police. When a survivor chooses to file a formal report, other departments or agencies on and off campus may be contacted during the investigative process as necessary.

* Please note that Campus Safety Officers MUST do an investigation if you report a sexual offense to them. To file an anonymous report (or no report at all), contact a S.O.A.R. team member rather than Campus Safety.*

Resources:

24– hour hot line numbers:

Women's Resource Center in Scranton	(570) 346-4671
Victims Resource Center in Tunkhannock	(570) 836- 5544
The Scranton Counseling Center	(570) 348-6100
Community Medical Center (CMC), Scranton	(570) 969-8000
Mercy Tyler Hospital, Tunkhannock	(570) 836-2161
Pennsylvania State Police Comm. Center	(570) 836-6161 or 911

Counseling Services
Tanya M. Morgan	(570) 945-8305
Garrett Fitzgerald	(570) 945-8321
Owen Conaghan	(570) 945-8389
Campus Resources
Campus Safety (24 hours)	(570) 945-8989
Campus Safety Office	(570) 945-8997
Health Services	(570) 945-8255
Residence Life	(570) 945-8271
Resident Director On-Duty	(570) 840-8473
Commuter Life	(570) 945-8442