American University Sexual Assaults: School On Alert After Four Reports Of 'Forcible Fondling' (VIDEO)

American University in Washington, D.C., has been shaken by four recent reports of sexual assault near campus. All occurred late at night or early morning, and all involved forcible touching of a female student, ABC News said.

The alleged encounters were all said to have occurred since Sept. 24, causing some women on campus to take precautionary measures. Student Virginia Cross told the station a sorority sister had provided a link to buy pepper spray. "I think women have to look out for each other," she said.

The suspect in all four cases is described as a white man under 6 feet tall. A similar attack on Sept. 7 before the recent cluster involved an assailant described as a muscular white male, 6-3 with a crewcut.

The victims in the last four incidents lodged their complaints with the school but did not file police reports, according to ABC.

A 2008 campus survey revealed that 6.8 percent of American University students had been subjected to "forced sexual touching or fondling," the blog TBD reported in 2011. But, according to the report, the school blocked an initiative to secure $300,000 in grants to combat sex crimes.

Data supplied by the AAUW shows that 95 percent of campus sex assaults go unreported.

The University of Montana recently gained unwanted attention for reported incidents. Jezebel wrote that 11 sexual assaults reported over the last 18 months involved UM students.