A sexual assault reported 10 days ago by a female student has turned out to be false, Penn State University Police said.
The woman reported on Aug. 30 that an unidentified white man, who claimed he had a knife, attacked her in the West parking lot near Beaver Stadium, police said.
The man, who reportedly followed the woman to her car, was described as taller than 5 feet 5 inches and smelling of cigarette smoke.
After the incident was reported, the university quickly distributed "Crime Alert" fliers to all campus residence halls to alert students of the "disturbing" act of violence.
However, during the investigation, the woman confessed that the incident was fabricated and did not happen, said Tyrone Parham, university police assistant director.
Parham said pressing charges against the woman is an option.
However, he said he is not sure at this time if the university will cite the woman for filing a false report.
"[Pressing charges] is not our main objective right now," he said.
"We needed to go public about this and let everyone know that the report was false."
Penn State police officer Donald Hazel said filing charges against the woman has been discussed but nothing has been decided at this point.
Although the incident has been reported to be untrue, students should still exercise caution, Parham said.
He also said students shouldn't be too worried.
"Our campus is very safe," he said, adding that students should still take necessary precautions, such as walking in groups and staying alert.
Another official expressed relief that the report was false.
"We can all take comfort in the fact that this particular incident did not take place," Penn State police director Steve Shelow said in a university press release on live.psu.edu.
Police said the case is still "sensitive" and further specifics cannot be released at this time.
