Geneseo juniors who were charged with forcible touching and unlawful imprisonment class A misdemeanors on Sept. 13 are facing sexual assault allegations from another victim. These recent accusations raise new questions regarding how the prosecution will choose to move forward.
Business administration major junior Nicholas French and accounting major junior Mitchell Virkler were previously arrested on Sept. 13 and charged with forcible touching and unlawful imprisonment before being released on bail, according to The Livingston County News.
The two students now face charges of second-degree harassment after another female student spoke up about an encounter with the two boys on Court Street 15 minutes prior to the first incident, according to Village Police Chief Eric Osganian.
Osganian does not believe the two alleged victims from both cases are familiar with each other.
“A second victim came forward and alleged that these individuals prevented her from walking on Court Street and touched and pinched her unwantedly,” Osganian said. “She did not want them to touch her.”
The new charges are of a lesser degree than the original filing, but still count as a violation due to the ongoing investigation on the first incident, according to Osganian.
The District Attorney’s office is ultimately responsible for whether or not these two cases will be handled independently or together, but Osganian is unsure how the office will choose to proceed.
Title IX Coordinator Tamara Kenney and the school were already in the process of conducting their own investigation into the matter, according to Sept. 20 article from The Lamron.
The customary procedure involves an initial investigation with Title IX which then gets turned over to the student conduct board for further disciplinary action, according to Kenney.
“[Student Conduct Board] makes a determination as to whether the student did violate the code of conduct or not,” Kenney said.
“If a student is found responsible, the only options for sexual assault are suspension or dismissal from the institution.”
If the conduct board determined it to be less than sexual assault, options range from a warning, conduct probation, suspension, dismissal or a combination of sanctions, according to Kenney.
Kenney mentioned that the Title IX office experienced an uptake in reports last year, receiving over 80 disclosures.
“It doesn’t mean those are reports, doesn’t mean those are taken for action,” Kenney said. “That just means we had 80 people come in to our office last year to report something had happened.”
The number of disclosures received by the office starkly contrasts the six sex-related offenses that were documented for 2017, according to a criminal investigations report from the Village Police Department.
Kenney emphasized that students should decide themselves whether or not to file an official report of their experience or work with local law enforcement.
“The national conversation about sexual assault has certainly helped encourage folks to come forward with things that they’ve experienced in their lifetime,” Kenney said. “It is giving people language to be able to say, ‘that’s what happened to me,’ so I do think is it certainly empowering people.”
The victim in this case came forward after seeing a press release regarding the initial incident, according to Osganian.
Both French and Virkler are scheduled to appear in Geneseo Village Court on Oct. 9, according to The Livingston County News.
The criminal investigation and prosecution process for their previous charges will be handled accordingly through the District Attorney’s office.