WASHINGTON

Campus sex offense reports rise, including at UMaine

Reports of forcible sex offenses rose significantly at several flagship public universities last year, according to new federal data.

At 22 of the flagships, the reporting of forcible sex offenses increased. The University of Virginia in 2013 had 27 reports, an increase from 11 the year before. The University of Maryland had 19, compared to nine the prior year.

Catherine Carroll, director of the University of Maryland’s Office of Sexual Misconduct and Relationship Violence, linked the incident reports to expanded outreach on gender violence. “Best guess is that the increase is a result of these efforts locally and nationally,” she said.

Other flagships with significant increases in such reports included: the University of Wisconsin at Madison (29, up from 15); University of Maine (19, up from 5); and University of Oklahoma (17, up from 6).

PHILADELPHIA

Abducted woman rescued, captor to face federal charges

A woman seen on surveillance video putting up a fight while being abducted off a Philadelphia street was found safe outside Baltimore on Wednesday, and the man who snatched her was arrested, police said.

Carlesha Freeland-Gaither was spotted in Jessup, Maryland, with the man in a car with a broken-out back window and was rescued soon after, police said. The man was nabbed after he stepped out of the car, police said.

Freeland-Gaither, 22, had some injuries but was generally doing OK, police said.

The man, Delvin Barnes, 37, was being held Wednesday night on an unrelated Virginia warrant alleging attempted capital murder, assault and malicious injury with acid, explosives or fire, and he would face federal charges in the Philadelphia abduction, authorities said.

SEATTLE

Car believed to be killer’s getaway vehicle is found

Police have found a car believed stolen by a man charged with killing his girlfriend, posting pictures of her body online and writing that he wanted authorities to find and kill him.

Kitsap County sheriff’s Deputy Scott Wilson in Washington state said police in Portland, Oregon, about 160 miles away, found the dead woman’s car abandoned late Wednesday afternoon. There was no sign of Amber Lynn Coplin’s live-in boyfriend, David Michael Kalac, 33, Wilson said.

Portland police briefly chased the car early Wednesday.

Kalac has been charged with second-degree murder in the death.

Deputies have confirmed that gruesome photos posted on a website are of the victim and the Port Orchard, Washington, crime scene, Wilson said.

Coplin’s body was found Tuesday in her Port Orchard apartment by her 13-year-old son, Wilson said.

– From news service reports

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