Athens police have not said if all three victims were students, but did confirm all were college-aged women. The first attack happened in 2006, with subsequent ones in June and December 2015, according to Athens police.
The news has current Ohio University students on high alert.
“It’s really odd because usually campus is extremely safe, and I’ve been here for four years and never have I felt a threat of any kind,” said Allie Mannix, a senior at OU.
Mannix and Andrea Truscelli, a junior at OU, are both Centerville High School graduates.
“I think this weekend will be interesting to see the type of precautions that people take,” Truscelli said during a Skype interview Friday with this news outlet. “I think (my mom) was more concerned about me not walking by myself anywhere as well as just being alert and she had mentioned seeing if I wanted to take some sort of self-defense class or something like that.”
University officials have sent out multiple messages warning students, and are planning to expand hours for the campus’ ride service. University officials also plan to extend the free ride service to off-campus housing.
“Clearly the city of Athens has a predator amongst us,” said Athens police Chief Tom Pyle. “It would not surprise me that we have other victims stepping forward.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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