WESTFIELD – A man who assaulted a Westfield State University student in her dorm room a year ago has received a year probation.
Kristopher E. Howard, 19, of Holbrook, had charges of indecent assault and battery on a person 14 or over continued without finding when he appeared in Westfield District Court on October 15.
On Friday, October 3, 2014, police were called to a dorm room in Davis Hall at 8:28 p.m. for a possible sexual assault, according to court records.
The student told campus police that she knew Howard from outside of WSU and that they had “hooked up before,” according to court records.
The victim had invited Howard to her room, but allegedly told him repeatedly that she was not interested in having sex, but he proceeded to make advances and try to get her friends to leave the room.
“I told him at the beginning of the night we were not going to have sex and if that is what he wanted I would have never invited him up,” the victim told campus police.
Howard was found to be in possession of a water bottle three-quarters of the way filled with vodka.
He had charges of person under 21 possessing liquor and selling/delivering liquor to a person under 21, dismissed at his October 15 hearing.
Molly C. Watson of the WSU Public Affairs office said Howard is not and was not a Westfield State student.
“After the incident he was charged with trespassing and barred from campus,” she said.
According to annual reports of on-campus criminal offenses, filed in accordance with Clery law, in 2011, the campus had three sexual assaults (excluding rape), in 2012, only one complaint of sexual assault and in 2013, three offenses, according to westfield.ma.edu. Statistics for last year were not posted.
Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at [email protected]
