Porn site has more than 50 videos of women walking campus, Oregon State warns
Oregon State University is warning students and others at its Corvallis campus that videos showing women walking from behind are being uploaded to a porn website.
The school said in an alert posted on Facebook Thursday that those on campus should look out for a person walking with a silver blue mountain bike who is apparently using a mobile phone to surreptitiously record women on campus.
“We’re not trying to create alarm,” said Steve Clark, the school’s vice president of university relations and marketing, the Albany Democrat-Herald reports. “What we are trying to do is inform people so the community can remain a very safe place, so our public safety and law enforcement officers can do their jobs.”
That alert comes after two people made the university’s public safety department aware on Thursday that “numerous videos recorded of women walking on campus have been loaded on an internet porn site” — totaling more than 50 over the last few weeks, the alert said.
“There are no recognizable face images or names associated with the videos,” the alert said. “Members of the campus community are urged to be aware of their surroundings and immediately report any sightings of an individual appearing to take unsolicited videos of people walking on campus or a person following others walking a silver blue mountain bike with a phone in hand.”
The school asked anyone with tips or information about the incidents to call the school’s public safety department at 541-737-3010.
“We felt that it was very important to notify the university community, to be aware of this practice occurring, and to be aware of their surroundings at any individual who may appear to be recording unsolicited photos or videos,” Clark said, according to the Daily Barometer, a student newspaper. “Meanwhile, I would say, this remains a very safe campus, and one of the ways we are safe is by having effective law enforcement and public safety on campus, and by informing our community of issues that may prompt concern and a response.”
Clark added that school public safety officials are working with state police to investigate, according to the Barometer.
“We have to be mindful that it is not illegal to take pictures on campus, but it is inappropriate to be taking photos of members of the community and placing them on an internet porn site,” Clark said, per the student newspaper. “Placing photos on the web is not illegal. Inappropriate behavior that puts members of the community at risk can be a student conduct matter, if this is a student, but we don’t know that it is.”
This story was originally published June 7, 2019 at 9:50 AM with the headline "Porn site has more than 50 videos of women walking campus, Oregon State warns."