Suspect confesses to sexual battery incidents

The Department of Public Safety announced a suspect was in custody Sunday following several similar incidents of sexual battery near campus. 

The incidents, which occurred between Sept. 30 and Oct. 4, involved a man described as a Hispanic male with shoulder-length hair riding a dark-colored bike at different locations around campus, approaching women from behind at night and touching their buttocks.

DPS Assistant Chief David Carlisle said that the suspect was detained after a DPS camera monitoring the area saw a person matching the description riding a bicycle on campus. 

The suspect was later arrested and booked by LAPD, Carlisle said. 

Carlisle said the suspect was not a USC student but rather a juvenile male who had access to the campus during normal business hours. Campus is open to the public until 9 p.m. 

While the juvenile’s motives remain unclear, LAPD will interview the suspect. Carlisle added that part of the investigation was to see if the suspect had been responsible for other cases, and he said the juvenile admitted to several of them. 

Based on the number of assaults the suspect was able to carry out, Carlisle said students at USC might be an easy target for such incidents. However, he said he believes that the current incidents will end now that the suspect has been identified. 

“It was reported to us that the person arrested admitted to doing several similar sexual assaults in the USC community, so we think that the immediate series of sexual assaults will end,” Carlisle said.