The Bowdoin Orient

April 6, 2001
Volume CXXXII, Number 20

Staff member resigns amid peeping allegations

by KITTY SULLIVAN, STAFF WRITER

   This past month, a student at Bowdoin was the target of a peeping tom, who, after more than an hour of skulking outside her windows, was detained by Brunswick Police and discovered to be a Bowdoin employee.
   On March 5, a female student had been playing basketball at the Union and returned to Moore, her dorm, around 11:30 p.m.
   Once inside, she noticed someone standing outside her window, and because it was so snowy, she could not tell who it was. Initially, she thought it was someone she knew, until she made eye contact with the individual and he ducked behind a tree.
   With an "uneasy feeling," she closed the window shade and left her room. When she returned, the peeper had repositioned himself so he could look into her bedroom window.
   "I was really nervous and called Security immediately," she said.
   After pulling that shade, the peeper moved again so he could see into the final window. Janie pulled all the shades, turned off all the lights, and called Security again. Security then dispatched the Brunswick Police who pulled over a car matching the student's description and discovered that the alleged peeping tom was in fact a Bowdoin employee.
   From there, Bowdoin security officers conducted an hour-and-a-half-long interview with the suspect. According to Director of Security Bruce Boucher, the suspect "didn't deny he was in the area, but he wouldn't say what he was doing."
   The following day, the suspect resigned and moved out of state with no forwarding address.
   No formal charges were pressed by local police because there was not enough evidence to charge him with trespassing.
   Though Bowdoin Security is obligated to uphold a level of confidentiality with the cases they handle, they did divulge the information that the suspect was hired within the past few months and did not receive a salaried position.
   It is unclear whether the suspect had a prior criminal background, or even if he did, whether Bowdoin would have been aware of it when hiring him. The Bowdoin College Employee Handbook states that "The College reserves the right to conduct investigations of personal history in determining a candidate's qualifications for employment or transfer. Such investigation may include obtaining a driving record report or criminal background check…" but often the College does not exercise this ability when hiring employees, especially unsalaried ones.
   In the past four years, there have been five reports of sexual assault, eight counts of aggravated assault, and 38 reports of burglary for both on- and off-campus students.
   Victims of sexual harassment or assault can either contact Security by calling x3314 or Sexual Assault Services of Midcoast Maine's 24 hour hotline, 1-800-822-5999.