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   From: nobody@yamn.paranoici.org   
      
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   HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A week after a University of Houston student was   
   raped on campus, the two agencies responsible for arresting and prosecuting   
   the suspect are giving very different responses to questions about what   
   happened.   
      
   On Friday, Feb. 7, a 21-year-old student was sexually assaulted in the UH   
   Welcome Center Parking garage.   
      
   RELATED: University of Houston student sexually assaulted at knifepoint in   
   parking garage, police say   
      
   Since then, questions have grown on how suspect Eric Brown was arrested that   
   same night but released the day after.   
      
   RELATED: UH sex assault suspect was released from custody before he was   
   charged, records show   
      
   On Friday, District Attorney Sean Teare sat down for a one-on-one interview   
   and said his intake division made some mistakes in handling the case.   
      
   "What we had happen is a set of failures all the way from law enforcement   
   agencies to us. Failures we had inside, in our processes and training, are   
   being looked at, and we're going to fix them," Teare said.   
      
   Teare said Friday night, UH police officers happened upon Brown on campus and   
   used a Taser on him. Brown was reportedly combative and elbowed one of the   
   officers trying to arrest him. In the initial call to Harris County District   
   Attorney's intake    
   division, Teare says the UH officers focused on the assaulting a peace officer   
   charge and only mentioned the sexual assault as an aside. He says officers did   
   not specifically ask for a sexual assault charge. However, Teare says his   
   staff should still    
   have flagged the case.   
      
   "We should have had a more experienced prosecutor highlighted to look at the   
   case. There were a lot of things internally that we're going to look through   
   and fix, but the bottom line is he was released," Teare said.   
      
   Teare also says his department has a specific sexual assault hotline staffed   
   by high-ranking prosecutors, but for whatever reason, UH Police did not call   
   the hotline when they had Brown in custody.   
      
   "We have a dedicated phone number for sexual assault prosecutors that is 24   
   hours a day manned. Most of the large (police) agencies reach out to that   
   number. In this case, that didn't happen. Our prosecutors from our adult sex   
   crimes reached out to UHPD    
   because they saw the news."   
      
   Teare says they are instituting new training to make sure his staff knows to   
   flag sexual assault cases even if officers do not call the felony sex crimes   
   hotline.   
      
   ABC13 repeatedly contacted UH officials, asking them to confirm, deny, or   
   explain their version of events and what went wrong.   
      
   UH said nobody could answer questions on camera, and only written statements   
   would be released.   
      
   The university released a statement Friday afternoon, but it did not address   
   any of the issues raised by concerned students and prosecutors this week.   
      
   Read their statement below:   
      
   "UH and the Harris County District Attorney's Office are working together with   
   a shared focus on apprehending Eric Brown to bring him to justice heinous   
   sexual assault a UH student last week. We best serve and protect our   
   communities by holding offenders    
   accountable, ensuring that all crimes are thoroughly investigated and   
   prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.   
      
   We are committed to continue to strengthen our coordination with the Harris   
   County District Attorney's Office and other local law enforcement agencies to   
   enhance our collective response to criminal activity. We are joined by   
   regional law enforcement    
   agencies, which are actively collaborating to take Brown into custody."   
      
   The lack of response isn't sitting well with State Representative Jolanda   
   Jones, a UH alumni who represents the area in the Texas Legislature.   
      
   "It's a concern for me because I've had people call my office," Jones said.   
   "They're really upset, and they don't feel safe."   
      
   Jones says she wants to hear from UH officials because students are not   
   feeling safe. Some are even skipping evening classes.   
      
      
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