The man who was arrested Saturday for trespassing in a Morse College bathroom while a female student showered was identified as a graduate student by police, University Police Lt. Michael Patten said.
Rodney Chan GRD ’09 was arrested on charges of voyeurism and criminal trespass in the second degree for allegedly entering into a Morse entryway without authorization and inappropriately observing a student showering, Patten said. In addition to the criminal charges, Chan could face discipline and even expulsion from the University for the incident.
Supervisor Bail Commissioner Jan Carnevale said Chan was arrested on Saturday and released on a $5,000 bond.
Put in place in 1999, the Connecticut voyeurism law makes it a crime for an individual to videotape or photograph anyone who ought to have a reasonable expectation of privacy for the purpose of sexual gratification or malicious intent. Morse students involved in the incident said police found Chan carrying a camera before his arrest.
Patten said no similar case of voyeurism had been reported to the police in the last school year. He also said he was unaware of Chan having a previous criminal record.
Graduate School Dean Jon Butler said he was informed the student had been charged and court proceedings were underway.
Butler said that if Chan is found in violation of graduate school regulations, the school will proceed with specific disciplinary actions.
“We have procedures that deal with infractions of University rules and regulations,” said Butler. “Behavior toward other students can constitute infractions of those rules. The student has the right to a hearing, or to proceed however the student wishes. Ultimately, it will end with the dean.”
The severity of the punishment given to the student would depend on how much the student was found in violation of the rules, Butler said.
“Ultimately, a student could be expelled, or — they could be suspended, reprimanded, or the student could be found not in violation,” he said.
Butler said a violation of the rules may also prevent a graduate student from acting as a teaching assistant, but that the administration would handle such a decision on “an individual case basis.”
Butler said he could not comment specifically on the charges brought against Chan.
Morse Master Frank Keil declined to comment on the incident because he had not received a police report, but he said he could not recall an event similar to Saturday’s incident taking place in the college recently.
“There have been thefts, but this particular event has not happened in a long time,” Keil said.
Keil said installing electronic keycard access to Morse College entryways is a measure that could be taken to ensure entryways remain locked to intruders.
“If we had electronic key card access, it would be better. But I don’t think we’re there yet,” he said. “I’m pretty sure that, in the colleges that have electronic keycard access, the doors squeal if you leave them open.”
Similar incidents have been reported on other college campuses this year. In October, Ithaca Police arrested a man, dubbed the “Collegetown Creeper,” who confessed to a series of break-ins on Cornell University’s campus. The Stanford Daily yesterday reported two incidents in which intruders gained unauthorized access to student residences. One man followed a student into a woman’s bathroom, and the other entered the room of a female student as she slept. No suspects had been apprehended as of Saturday night.