Metro

Queens’ top sex-crime prosecutor to train universities on assaults

Queens’ top sex-crimes prosecutor is trading the courtroom for the college campus, where she will train and educate university officials across the country on how to properly investigate sexual-assault claims.

“The need for this training on campuses has spiked enormously within the last few years,” said Marjory Fisher, who spent 30 years as a prosecutor, including 23 with the Queens DA’s Office.

“On campuses, it’s important and a right that the victim and the accused have the benefit of a complete and fair investigation.”

Fisher’s career move comes as some major schools around the city showed they could use a lesson on how to handle sex-crime complaints.

Concerns were raised last December that Columbia University has been dropping the ball on sexual-assault investigations after complaints against a university athlete was virtually ignored.

The Ivy League school’s president, Lee Bollinger, promised greater “transparency” and a policy review after news of the botched probe came to light.

Fisher said she wants schools to get it right, so she is joining T&M Protection Services as a managing director in the sexual misconduct consulting and investigations (SMCI) division.

“Nothing should ever be swept under the rug. there should be guide lines that each school should follow in a case like that,” Fisher said about the Columbia incident. She is not permitted to disclose her client list, and it is unclear if she will be working with Columbia.

She will team with Lisa M. Friel, a former Manhattan sex-crimes bureau chief.

The consulting team will train a panel of administrators, professors and students who investigate these cases on what to look for, what to ask, and what kinds of evidence they should be gathering.

“Every boy and girl on campus needs to understand the tremendous consequences of sexual assault” said Fisher, an Ohio native.

At least 80 percent of rapes happen between people who know each other, said Fisher, who also uses the victim’s social media and other technology to assist in any investigation.

According to 2012 crime statistics, Columbia and Fordham each had 14 reports of forcible sex offenses on and off campus. The number for Columbia was up 10 from 2011.

Most of the companies and universities Friel has worked with so far have signed confidentiality agreements, but sources said Dartmouth University and Yeshiva University are among the schools that have received the services.