Parents Plea for Help After Daughter Reports Rape at UCSB
ISLA VISTA, Calif. ( KEYT ) - After a reported rape last weekend, the parents of the victim, an 18-year-old UC Santa Barbara freshman, are asking for help from the public to find the attacker. She has been identified as Jane Doe to protect her identity, and reported the assault to UC Police about an hour after the attack.
Attorney Tyrone Maho, of Maho & Prentice, LLP, and the family’s investigator, Michael Claytor of Claytor Investigations are representing the student's family. They say at approximately 11:00 pm on Saturday, May 9, their daughter was violently attacked and the attacker is still at large.
They are asking anyone who may know about this or a Sigma Pi fraternity party scene prior to the attack to come forward with the information.
The family, through their attorney, have reached out to Chancellor Dennis Assanis, requesting help. Maho says they are asking for the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department take over this investigation. The family has been in contact with the UCSB Police Department so far, but are asking for the Sheriff’s Department to take over this investigation and find the attacker.
Maho stood by the building where the student lived and said, "we are pleading with the chancellor please request the Santa Barbara Sheriffs Department to help with this investigation to apprehend this person."
In 2025, Maho and Claytor led a public outreach campaign to identify a person of interest in connection to the death of another student, 18-year-old Liz Hamel who died in a fall from a balcony on campus. That case has been under investigation by the UC Police at the time.
Thursday afternoon UC Police released this statement:
Federal law and university policy prevent us from discussing specifics of a case, but the campus has robust resources that are available to support survivors of sexual violence.
Reports of any crime that take place on university property are fully investigated by sworn officers of the UCPD. UCPD, which serves and protects the community, is a P.O.S.T. certified and accredited law enforcement agency, including by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, the leading authority for campus public safety. UCPD, like other law enforcement agencies, works closely with the Sheriff’s Office and the Santa Barbara District Attorney’s Office as appropriate. The incident is currently under active investigation.
UCPD has been in direct contact with the survivor’s family from the early stages of the investigation. The campus has been contacted by an attorney purportedly representing the student and their family, and the campus has responded to the attorney on multiple occasions.
In these cases someone with information does not have to give their name and remain anonymous through a UCSB police web link or phone number.
Claytor said, "remember it might be enough to say I saw this and they can then put the pieces together themselves they are not going to need to use you to testify. Give them what is important and let them do the rest ."
Maho said, "I do believe they truely want want to find this person we're just asking that they get assistance. That is a department that is bigger and more capable and has the experience to do so."
Some of the residents in the immediate area said there were not contacted by any investigator for video from building cameras or any other information they may have. There was a "timely warning" put out after the incident was reported but no other emails or similar messages are known to have gone out.
Maho has been involved in past rape cases in Isla Vista and UCSB. A UC Santa Barbara student was raped on campus in 2014 near the track. Maho said the school did not adequately clear vegetation in the area where the crime occurred. After the legal action, the school cleared and maintained a wide area that remains visible without obstructions from the street to the track.
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