Multiple reports of sexual harassment at UDel; police searching for suspect

Students at the University of Delaware are on high alert tonight amid reports of three sexual harassment incidents.

At least two of those complaints involved women being groped off campus.

It all started at Lovett and Haines Avenue around 10 p.m. Friday night.

A 19-year-old University of Delaware student reported being groped and grabbed on the butt and shoulder by a man who then kept walking. Shaken, she called police.

A half hour later on Prospect Avenue another young student, this time 20-years-old, was assaulted in the same way by a man fitting the same description.

Less than an hour after that, two frightened students, a 21- and 20-year-old called police as a man followed them for half a mile beginning at North Chapel and New Street. He left before cops arrived. The students were unharmed.

"We live in a world where we have to be scared to walk home at night," sophomore Erin Redgrave told Fox 29. "Now I'm just going to not have my headphones in or be in the phone or, I don't know, be aware."

Friends Erin and Michayla say there's already unwritten code among University of Delaware students not to walk home alone. Now they'll take added precautions. Cops say the suspect is between 20- and 30-years-old, white or Hispanic and thin. They don't know if he's a student.

Michayla Petel had this advice for fellow students:

"Be more aware. Keep staying in packs and always have your phone on you," she said.

Police say they're looking into whether these attacks are connected to the abduction and assault of two women near Wilmington, and the attempted abduction of a third, all within the last few weeks.

Those suspects remain on the loose, as does the man who cops say abducted and sexually assaulted a 4-year-old in New Castle County last week. Those cases are unsolved.

Anyone with information should call Newark Police Det. William Anderson at 302-366-7100 x3469, or click here to email.

You can also call Delaware Crime Stoppers at 1-800-TIP-3333 (847-3333), or report online by clicking here.