UW Police issued a warrant Thursday for the arrest of a man believed to be involved in one of the sexual assaults Oct. 12 in Ogg Residence Hall.
The suspect is identified as London A. Triplett, 29, of Milwaukee.
At roughly 9:30 p.m. Oct. 12, an 18-year-old woman residing in Ogg reported she had been assaulted. She said she had seen the assailant the previous night at a hip-hop event at Memorial Union. The night of the assault, he saw her outside of Ogg and followed her into her room.
Triplett is affiliated with Coo Coo Cal, a Milwaukee hip-hop performer, police said.
Triplett has been charged with second-degree sexual assault by use of force, according to Sgt. Pete Ystenes of UW Police. If found guilty, he will face up to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Triplett is believed to be in the Milwaukee area.
\We are working with agencies in Milwaukee,"" Ystenes said. He further asserted ""it is only a matter of time"" before Triplett is arrested.
The second sexual assault reported Oct. 12 in Ogg remains under investigation.
The fact that the suspect is not a UW-Madison student is giving some students what they refer to as a false sense of security.
""I think it makes the rape feel more distant, when really it's not,"" said UW-Madison freshman Betsy Conrad, who lives in Ogg. ""I want to think better of the Madison students. I want to be able to go to Madison parties and not worry about being raped. Even though I know that it can still happen, the fact that that didn't happen in this case makes me feel better about my chances.""
UW-Madison sophomore Hayley Bartz, another Ogg resident, has parallel views.
""It does [put me at ease], but I don't know why,"" she said. ""I think that there's just something psychological about it. Like, the people you go to school with aren't sexual predators, but the people from outside the city are.""
Despite this incident, some students said they believe efforts to heighten security would be a lost cause.
""Ideally some kind of law enforcement could monitor the doors and elevators, making sure that the people who came through were residents, but that's kind of tedious,"" said UW-Madison sophomore Andrew Ro said. ""Besides, I don't think it's going to stop everyone who's capable of something like that from getting in.""
Ystenes said the two most important things to do to prevent an assault are to know who is supposed to be on one's floor and to take the time to lock the door.
""Think of your dorm room door as the door to your apartment, instead of the door to your bedroom,"" he said.
Triplett is 6'2' and 185 pounds. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts is asked to contact UW Police at 262-2957.
