A California college that failed in the past to release information on 24 sexual assault allegations also didn't report an additional 27 sex assault reports from 2012, according to an investigation conducted by a newspaper.
Occidental College, a liberal arts school of about 2,000 students in Los Angeles, might also have disregarded multiple complaints from students that made them anonymously, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The university could receive federal charges for this crime, if it is found guilty.
Two reports were filed by students and members of faculty last year, accusing the school of discouraging people from coming forward if they'd been assaulted, in addition to giving light punishments to offenders, the Associated Press reported.
The Department of Education launched multiple probes as a result of the complaints, most of which are still pending.
The school could be in violation of the Clery Act - a piece of legislation that states all college campuses must report ever account of crimes that happen in certain areas of jurisdiction.
Spokesperson for Occidental Jim Tranquada told AP on Saturday that a handful of sexual assaults slipped through the cracks of the yearly federal report because they happened outside of the certain areas described in the Clery Act.
The Los Angeles Times conducted a review of two confidential federal complaints that revealed the school had omitted another 27 cases of sexual assault in 2012, in addition to the two dozen attacks in 2010 and 2011 that went unreported.
A female Occidental student told the Dean of Students' office that she had been attacked was seeking disciplinary action for her assailant, in February according to AP. But a dean instead instructed her to keep quiet about the incident, and not tell anyone she'd been assaulted.
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