A Dartmouth student is accused of raping a fellow student in her dorm room earlier this month. He was initially held for lack of bail.
Dartmouth College officials are declining to speak publicly about the incident, which is still under investigation. And Hanover police commented only in a press release.
Police say Parker Gilbert, a junior from London, trespassed into a female student’s unlocked dorm room and sexually assaulted her.
Parker was arrested in his campus dormitory without incident. Bail was set at $75,000. In the statement police also say that Gilbert may have assaulted at least one other woman, and they have been searching his room.
The incident was revealed to students in a campus email and was prominently reported in local media.
Georgi Klissurski, a junior from Bulgaria, was reading an account of the reported crime in the campus newspaper.
He says it’s troubling that the rapist allegedly entered the student’s room without permission.
“The second way 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,” Klissurski said.
Students say that’s what they are advised to do by the College—to call campus security first, before notifying police.
Dartmouth has been trying to curb sexual assaults with a variety of new programs and policies, urging bystanders who witness or suspect sexual misconduct to intervene.
But that’s difficult, one student noted, if it happens behind closed doors. Police are warning students to lock their dorm room doors when they are sleeping, and are asking for information about the case.
Gilbert’s probable cause hearing is scheduled for May 20 in Lebanon.
