Sexual Predator at Large Near Tufts

Less than two miles from the Quad, a sexual predator remains at large in the area around Tufts University’s Medford/Somerville campus, according to police reports.

Several sexual assaults that occurred in the past month in the Hillside area of Medford are believed to related, according to Medford Police Department spokesman Lt. Paul F. Covino.

Tufts University spokeswoman Kim M. Thurler confirmed that at least two Tufts students were victims, including the first incident on March 31, when a female student reported being lured into a car and then sexually assaulted.

While Covino declined to release the exact number of cases under investigation, he said that the majority of the victims were not college students.

In response to the string of attacks, Tufts University police and security guards have been assigned to patrol the campus and surrounding neighborhoods, according to Thurler.

Harvard University Police Department spokesman Steven G. Catalano wrote in an e-mail that Harvard police officers are aware of the incidents, and encouraged the community to be aware of safety.

“Persons should trust their instincts and [if] something doesn’t feel right take the appropriate steps to ensure their safety,” Catalano wrote.

After the most recent assault on April 26, a special task force comprising Medford, Somerville, and Tufts University police officers convened, according to a press release issued last Thursday by the Medford Police Department.

Tufts freshman Victoria G. Ruff said the recent assaults have made her feel “extremely unsafe,” especially since she often spends time on the street where one of the incidents occurred.

“I was actually out on the nights when the assaults happened, and we would walk back alone all the time,” Ruff said. “And now I don’t go there past a certain hour.”

Ruff, however, said that the support of police and her friends have made her feel much safer.

“I’ve made my guy friends walk us back even if it’s a nuisance, and they’ve never complained,” Ruff said. “And I know that the cops value our safety above all else.”

The Medford Police press release described the suspect as a heavy-set man in his twenties who is “possibly Hispanic,” and who may drive a “small reddish colored SUV type of a motor vehicle.”

Covino declined to comment on details of the investigation except to say that it was “moving forward.”

He also urged students not to listen to headsets or talk into cell phones when walking at night.