Parker C. Gilbert, a 20-year-old freshman at Dartmouth College, has been charged with four counts of aggravated sexual assault for raping a fellow female student inside her dorm room. Gilbert was arrested in May following a complaint filed by the victim.
The complaint alleges that Gilbert, from Great Britain and a member of the college rugby team, entered the victim's unlocked dorm room early in the morning of May 2 and sexually assaulted her.
"The Hanover police have reason to suspect that at least one additional female was attacked recently by Mr. Gilbert," the police said.
He is currently being held in the Grafton County jail in North Haverhill on $75,000 bail, including $40,000 cash. If convicted, Gilbert faces seven and a half to 15 years for each sexual assault count.
"... it's unusual is that it was reported directly to Hanover Police. Most of the time people just keep it within Safety and Security on campus, and the administration," Georgi Klissurski, a junior from Bulgaria, said after learning about the crime in the campus newspaper.
Students have been advised by the administrators to initially approach the campus security before informing the police.
Since the incident, college authorities have urged students to lock their dorm rooms while they are sleeping or when the room is unoccupied.
"We take all allegations of sexual assault very seriously," Justin Anderson, college spokesman said. "We are deeply committed to ensuring the safety and well-being of students and have implemented numerous new and strengthened initiatives over the past few years to reduce incidents of sexual assault, hold accountable those found responsible, and offer as much support and care as we can to survivors."
According to the Clery Act data, there were 15 aggressive sexual assault offenses reported at the college in 2011; 22 crimes in 2010 and 10 were filed in 2009. Late last month, Attorney Gloria Allred and a group of students and activists across the country filed complaints with the government against Swarthmore College, Dartmouth College, University of Southern California and UC Berkeley for violating Title IX (facilitating a hostile environment for women) and federal Clery Act (misreporting campus crimes).
