Best-selling author Jon Krakauer's new book, Missoula, Rape and the Justice System in a College Town, is a carefully documented and candid account of what happened when University of Montana students and athletes ended up on opposite sides of the legal process.

Many in Missoula were apprehensive about how the town, its residents and the university would be portrayed in the book. That concern is completely understandable. But Krakauer's findings on well-publicized acquaintance rape cases are instructive and reminds us why rape cases are difficult to prosecute. What happened in Missoula could happen in any town in America. In fact, there is ample evidence that sexual assaults continue to rise across the country.

Krakauer notes that the Department of Justice investigated 350 sexual assaults reported to the Missoula police between January 2008 and May 2012. He reports that few of the assaults were properly handled by either the university or the police. Missoula cannot be alone in that category.

The University of Montana and its famed Griz football program take appropriate hits in Krakauer's book, but there were key UM officials, including President Royce Engstrom and Dean of Students Charles Couture, who stepped forward and directly tackled the controversy. The issues of rape and effective prosecution are the headlines here, no matter who is involved and where the assaults happen.

 

 

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