17-Year-Old Arrested After Rutgers Student Allegedly Sexually Assaulted While Asleep In Dorm Room
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (CBSNewYork) – A suspect has been arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting a college student in a Rutgers University dorm room.
Authorities say the 17-year-old suspect, whose name is not being released due to his age, faces charges of aggravated criminal sexual conduct, criminal sexual contact and burglary. The suspect is from South Brunswick, authorities said.
The campus was on high alert Monday morning. Police officers were patrolling the Rutgers University Livingston Campus early Monday, a day after they say a man attacked a sleeping student, reports CBS2's Hazel Sanchez.
"It's pretty unsettling. Now I feel I need to have someone with me," said student Kanzah Sarfaraz.
"It was really frightening seeing all the cops and just knocking on the door. It scared us all," freshman Jonelle Biggs told CBS2.
Freshman Alexa Gudiel's mother was with her when she returned to the Livingston campus on Monday.
Both feeling uneasy after learning about the alleged assault.
"I was a little shaken up," said Alexa. "It's really scary to know. You always feel safe in your dorm well you're supposed to feel safe in your dorm and then incident like this happens."
When you heard about it though, I was very scared," said parent Jenny Lopez.
"Just disgusted. I don't like that. It makes you feel uneasy being around my own dorm," said freshman Jonas Belmonte.
"I live right there and it happened there, so it is disturbing," another student said.
Investigators told CBS2's Reena Roy the suspect entered the unlocked dorm room around 7:40 a.m. Sunday, sexually assaulting the female victim inside the Quad 2 dormitory on Road 3.
University officials alerted students shortly after.
"It was scary hearing that because me and my roommate are there, there's been a night and I accidentally forgot to lock the door so stuff like that is like scary to hear," said student Erin Westervelt.
"I do think it's a terrible thing and I do hope they find out who did it," said student Sofia Lozano.
"It's actually kind of scary because, like, in the residence hall you have like a sense of security," freshman Suhanya Pathman said.
"Everyone's scared, everyone's locking the doors," said freshman Emmanuel Azuonwu.
Authorities say the student woke up during the assault as the attacker ran off. Investigators said she suffered no physical injuries.
Students told CBS2 security is tight overall, but they'll now be extra careful. Police were seen patrolling the Livingston campus early Monday morning.
"If I'm inside the room, I don't always lock the door," Lozano said. "I think I'll start locking them now."
"There's three of these overall buildings and you actually need an ID card to get in. A lot of times people will leave door open behind the out of politeness," Sarfaraz said.
"Pepper spray, key chain alarms my parents bought for me. So we're going to make sure to definitely use those," freshman Juliet Trifiro added.
Adonis Quicosa kept his daughter home Sunday night after hearing the news. He dropped her off very early Monday morning with some advice.
"When I dropped my daughter, I said you have to make sure you lock your doors most of the time," he said. "She's my little girl. No matter what, she's my little girl."
"Now we're definitely going to be more careful with walking our doors, making sure we don't let any random people into our houses especially because that's just a thing here," said Alexa. "When someone's just waiting outside you kind of just let them in assuming that they're probably living there."
"I didn't expect it to be happening so close to where I live," said Colby Chen. "Livingston is supposed to be like safer."
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact police at 848-932-8025.