Northwestern Freshman Raped By Student On Campus: Prosecutors

EVANSTON, IL — A Northwestern University freshman who witnesses say raped a fellow student early Saturday morning was arrested Tuesday and has been banned from campus, according to prosecutors. Following the arrest, school officials refused to identify the student, who appeared in court Wednesday in Skokie.

Scott Thomas, 20, of New Jersey, was charged with one count of criminal sexual assault of someone unable to consent in connection with an incident reported to university police shortly after 2 am. on March 16 at the Jacobs Center, 2001 Sheridan Road, prosecutors said.

According to witnesses, Thomas held an 18-year-old fellow freshman who appeared "lifeless" against a glass door because she could not stand up on her own, prosecutors said. Witnesses heard the woman pleading with Thomas to stop, according to prosecutors.

Students found Thomas having sex with the incapacitated woman as they left the library, according to prosecutors. When one of the students said something and approached, Thomas pulled up his pants, zipped up his fly and tucked in his shirt, they said.

The witnesses helped the woman by pulling up her pants, which she was unable to do, and called for university police, prosecutors said at a bond hearing.

According to prosecutors, Thomas and the woman were seen walking through campus on surveillance video starting a little while after 1 a.m. At first, the woman was able to walk on her own, but she was later seen swaying and falling over.

Prosecutors said the woman was eventually unable to stand on her own. Although the two were seen on video kissing, the woman repeatedly can be seen physically removing Thomas' hand from her crotch, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said video shows Thomas carrying the woman to the Jacobs Center where he lowers her pants and underwear as she falls down.

The woman told authorities she did not remember the incident but recalled meeting Thomas at a soccer party, according to prosecutors. She said she did not know him very well. She remembered drinking at the party but did not remember when or with whom she left the party. Prosecutors said she had visible injuries after the incident.

Northwestern spokesman Jon Yates refused to identify the accused rapist, declining to say who the university's private police force had arrested.

University Police did not disclose Thomas' name or say when or where he was arrested — information that a municipal police force would be required to provide. Northwestern's police department, as a private university, is exempt from state public records law as it is currently written. It also did not release a booking photograph.

The university did not say if the student faced any discipline or expulsion as a result of the allegations.

Associate Vice President Bruce Lewis, who also functions as the chief of its police department, sent a message to the Northwestern community saying administrators "realize the report of a sexual assault on our campus is difficult for many people in our community" and encouraging students and staff to "reach out" to the university's equity office.

Thomas has not responded to requests for comment. He is a 2018 graduate of Bernards High School in Bernardsville, New Jersey.

His attorney, Northwestern law professor Jeff Urdangen, said the incident was an "unfortunate situation" of "drunken sex" and would "get sorted out as they go along," according to the Evanston Review. His request to allow Thomas to go back to New Jersey to live with his parents, who attended the bond hearing, was denied at his initial court appearance.

Read more: Accused Of Rape, Northwestern Student To Return To New Jersey

Circuit Judge Anjana Hansen allowed for Thomas to be released ahead of trial provided he put down a $5,000 cash portion of his bond, submit to GPS monitoring and have no contact with the woman he is accused of raping. No booking photograph was taken because Thomas' parents were able to come up with the $5,000 cash immediately without him being taken to Cook County Jail for processing.

Update: Ex-Northwestern Student Arraigned On 64 Counts Of Sexual Assault