Square Assaults Plague Students

Twelve gropings reported in the Harvard Square area over a four-month period resulted in a year marked by safety concerns, discussions and precautions.

Local police responded with an increase in area patrols, which enabled the Harvard University Police Department (HUPD) and the Cambridge Police Department (CPD) to arrest a University custodian who later admitted in court to groping over 100 women near campus.

The impact of the gropings extended beyond the police to Harvard’s administration, which pushed for a new student escort program and extended late-night shuttle service.

Between Oct. 10 and Oct. 15, three women who were not affiliated with Harvard were groped in separate incidents as they walked alone near Huron and Concord Avenues, just blocks from the Quad.

An undergraduate was attacked in Cambridge Common on Oct. 23 at approximately 8:30 p.m. when a male grabbed her wrist and waist, spun her around, grabbed her breast and then attempted to remove her coat.

On Dec. 2, an undergraduate was the victim of indecent assault with the attempt to rape when she was cutting through the parking lot near St. Paul’s Church on the way to her Dunster House residence. The student was struck from behind with a blunt object, forced to the ground and sexually assaulted.

Then on Dec. 10, The Crimson reported that SafetyWalk, a student group responsible for providing late-night walking escorts, was apparently defunct. Administrators who suggested using the escort program after the St. Paul’s assault were unaware of the program’s dearth of student escorts.

In response to the assaults, CPD officers, HUPD officers and representatives from the Office of Sexual Assault Prevention hosted a forum at the Parish Church to discuss the recent assaults and their repercussions. They encouraged students to walk in groups and well-lit areas and to remain aware of their surroundings.

The night of that meeting, a graduate student was assaulted on Mt. Auburn and Dunster Streets around 7 p.m. when a man coming from the opposite direction allegedly attempted to grab her crotch.

On Jan. 11, an assault took place in which the suspect was on a bicycle. A female undergraduate was groped in Harvard Yard when she reported that she had been touched inappropriately in the buttocks area by a man on a bike while she was walking near Harvard Hall at 9 p.m.

The next incident occurred when a student was groped while walking on Mt. Auburn Street towards Claverly Hall while the suspect was walking in the opposite direction at around 5:40 p.m. on Jan. 13.

This series of incidents prompted Dean of the College Benedict H. Gross ’71 to send an e-mail on Jan. 14 to all students outlining safety precautions and stressing the University’s commitment to safety. Gross also announced plans to implement a new walking escort program and to review concerns about spotty shuttle bus and evening van service.

Increased patrols and the assistance of a victim paid off, as Harvard and Cambridge police arrested a University custodial worker after he allegedly groped a graduate student at the intersection of Mt. Auburn and Holyoke Streets around 8 p.m. on Jan. 20. Using footage from surveillance cameras, police arrested University Health Services custodian Geremias Cruz Ramos, 27, of Revere, Mass., around 10 p.m. He was under a detainer from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) at the time of his arrest and turned over to the custody of immigration services.

Ramos was an employee of the custodial contractor Sodexho, Inc.

A second complaint was filed in Middlesex District Court accusing Ramos of also committing the assault that occurred on Jan.13.

In his bail hearing on Jan. 27, a police officer testified that Ramos had admitted to groping three to four women a week over the past five or six months. He was released on $1,000 cash bail on the conditions that he surrender his passport and stay away from the Harvard campus. Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson Emily J. LaGrassa said that Ramos has failed to appear in court for recent hearings, probably because he remains in the custody of immigration officials.

In response to Ramos’ arrest, Harvard is now requiring criminal background checks on all security and custodial contractors, including the outsourced ones.

Also in April, CPD Superintendent Michael D. Giacoppo said that Ramos, referred to in the police report as an illegal alien from Colombia, will be prosecuted and may face deportation.

But even after Ramos’ arrest, three more bicycle gropings hit campus.

A graduate student reported to CPD that she was inappropriately grabbed on Feb. 6 at about 8:30 p.m. while walking on Holyoke Street near 24 Mt. Auburn Street.

CPD spokesperson Frank D. Pasquarello said an unidentified male, pushing a mountain bicycle, approached the victim from the opposite direction, grabbed her and fled on his bicycle.

After learning of that incident, a second graduate student reported that she was also assaulted in Harvard Yard at 8:45 p.m. on Feb. 6.

And on Feb. 12, an undergraduate was groped by a man on a bicycle at the intersection of Mt. Auburn and Story Streets near the post office at around 4:30 p.m.

As of April, CPD officials said they had questioned a suspect they believe is the bicycle rider responsible for a series of local gropings, but they did not have enough evidence to make an arrest.

Police interrogated a man on Feb. 12 who matched the description given by the four victims, but none of the victims could provide a positive identification of the suspect, according to a police report.

But officials noted that no additional assaults have been reported since the man was questioned.

HARVARD STRIKES BACK

In response to the wave of indecent assaults this year, HUPD took a “three-prong approach,” according to HUPD spokesperson Steven G. Catalano.

It increased officer presence on the streets, communicated with other University and city agencies and—in conjunction with the College—started a new walking escort program.

The wave of indecent assaults caught the attention and focus of HUPD.

“That was definitely a spike and a cluster in indecent assault and batteries,” Catalano said. “We were concerned; fear [among students] was running very, very high.”

As a result, Catalano said, HUPD dramatically increased its staffing levels, both uniformed and plainclothes, on foot and in patrol cars.

“We were very visible,” Catalano said. “We received a lot of feedback from the community. They felt more comfortable with officers out there.”

But Catalano said increasing officer presence also meant that police were able to respond to calls more efficiently.

“We didn’t want to just make people feel comfortable, we wanted to stop these crimes,” he said.

Ramos’ arrest in January was a prime example of coordination and cooperation between HUPD and CPD, Catalano said, and it was successful because of the sheer volume of officers on the streets as well as the victim’s fast thinking.

“The arrest occurred because this victim in her anger called the police right away,” Catalano said. “We had so many people that night it was possible to assist CPD in making the arrest...we flooded the area. It was a good description from victim combined with good police work.”

Catalano added that work with University Transportation Systems was also important, and it was due to this collaboration that the shuttle service was extended to 24 hours during the winter.

“We were trying to get a handle on giving people alternatives,” Catalano said. “This brings to the forefront for the reincarnation of [the escort program].”

After The Crimson reported that SafetyWalk, a student group responsible for providing late-night walking escorts, no longer had any more escorts to provide, it became a priority for the College and HUPD to devise a replacement service that would be effective.

The Harvard University Campus Escort Program (HUCEP) kicked off in late February. It operates by paying HUPD-trained student escorts who work from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m Sunday through Wednesday and to 3 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Catalano said that while SafetyWalk would receive around six calls all year, HUCEP has been well-utilized this semester. Since Feb. 20, 711 students have received a walking escort.

“That’s 711 people that would have walked alone. The HUCEP program had a good spring and we’re hoping when students come back in the fall it will only get bigger and better,” Catalano said. “I’d like to see the program be around forever.”

—Staff writer Hana R. Alberts can be reached at alberts@fas.harvard.edu.