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Custodial Worker Arrested for Alleged Indecent Assault

Police unsure if suspect is linked to five previous incidents

Pasquarello said he could not comment on whether Ramos has confessed to any of the other incidents.

A Harvard student was groped on Jan. 13 while walking on Mt. Auburn Street near Claverly Hall around 5:40 p.m.

On Jan. 10, a female undergraduate was “groped in the buttocks area” by a man on a bicycle around 9 p.m. in Harvard Yard, according to Catalano.

Around 7 p.m. on Dec. 11, a graduate student was walking toward Dunster Street when a man coming from the opposite direction allegedly attempted to grab her crotch.

On Dec. 2, an undergraduate was cutting through the parking lot of St. Paul’s Church on her way to Dunster House when an unidentified man attempted to rape her, according to HUPD.

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And police said that on Oct. 22, a Harvard student was attacked in Cambridge Common 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. The victim struck the face of the suspect, who returned the blow and fled the area.

Pasquarello said CPD will still have additional officers patrolling the Harvard Square area, and Catalano said no decision has been made about decreasing HUPD staffing levels at this time.

Sari M. Poage ’05, who said she found out about Wednesday’s assault from a Boston Globe reporter, said she felt “vulnerable” after this most recent assault and wondered why HUPD had not sent out a community advisory.

“I strongly feel that students should be alerted whenever their security is compromised by another assault...I guess is I wish I could get my news about my security at Harvard from Harvard, and not from a reporter,” Poage wrote in an e-mail to Mather-open, the House discussion list.

Catalano said that Tuesday night’s assault did not call for an advisory because the suspect was caught.

“We put out advisories where there is a continuing public safety threat,” Catalano said. “This incident didn’t require a community advisory because there was an arrest made.”

Bowman-Hade said on Wednesday morning she could not yet comment on Ramos’ specific assignment at Harvard.

But Poage wrote in her e-mail to Mather-open that she was concerned to find out that the suspect works at the University.

“The fact that this man was an employee of Harvard also greatly disturbs me considering the access custodians have with our rooms and the fact that it makes me wonder exactly just how safe we are around those that work around us.”

Willa H. Friedman ’05, who responded to Poage’s e-mail, said she thinks students have to be careful about the way they interpret the arrest.

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