An 18-year-old male, Joseph Carlton Hinton, who was charged with window peeping, unlawful acts on school property and trespassing, is scheduled to appear in court on May 31 at 8:15 a.m., according to the Denver police department.
Hinton was caught by Campus Safety on Saturday, April 30, after a female student who lives on the garden level of Johnson-MacFarlane Hall saw him videotaping her while she changed clothes.
Hinton is described as 5 feet 10 inches tall, 250 pounds and African-American with a heavy build, brown eyes and black hair. Hinton lives near the intersection of South Colorado Boulevard. and East Florida Avenue, which is approximately 2.5 miles away from Johnson-MacFarlane Hall.
According to Tyrone Mills, associative director of the Department of Campus Safety (DPS), the victim called immediately when she noticed Hinton looking through her window.
“She gave us a really good description of the individual, which helped us apprehend the suspect minutes later,” said Mills. “He was seen in that area by campus officers and we brought him back to the scene to await Denver police officers’ arrival.”
Hinton was arrested and immediately taken to Denver city jail.
According to court records, Hinton was arraigned May 1 and was released on a $500 bond later that afternoon.
On May 3, DPS sent out an email to several staff members and some students warning about the window peeping incident.
The crime notice warned women to stay alert, be aware of their surroundings and to not let their guard down.
It also recommends that students close their drapes in the evening, take a Rape Aggression Defense class (RAD) and report suspicious persons and activities immediately.
This is the third incident where female student residents of Johnson-MacFarlane were watched or photographed from outside while their drapes were open.
Historically, sorority houses on the east end of campus have also attracted peeping Toms according to the notice.
On March 5, a similar incident occurred, also involving a female student at Johnson-MacFarlane Hall, where a man was caught spying on the student through her window.
“We didn’t have a good enough description to catch the man,” said Mills. “But the M.O. was close to the same.”
The first incident of the year, which took place Feb. 17, involved an unaffiliated male watching a female student through the window of her garden-level dorm room at Johnson-MacFarlane Hall. Campus safety officers apprehended him in the area and he was arrested by the Denver Police Department.
This was not the same man who was involved in the most recent incident, according Mills.
One freshman student who lives in a garden-level room in Johnson-MacFarlane Hall, Hannah Koschnitzka, said that she will now be more conscientious of keeping her blinds closed and locking her door at night.
“I think it’s really freaky,” Koschnitzka said. “It’s definitely not something I ever envisioned happening.”
Another student, freshman Julieta Luevano, had a similar reaction to the incidents.
“It was really a wake-up call,” said Luevano. “We’re so used to the DU bubble. You’re more likely to be aware when you’re off campus.”
Both students said that they never really felt unsafe because they know that Campus Safety is nearby.
Mills said that DPS offers several security precautions to assure the safety of young women around campus. They include a safety presentation with all incoming freshmen, meetings with the sorority houses, awareness tables set up on the Driscoll bridge and brochures to inform students about how to be more cautious and aware of their surroundings.
There are 102 blue-light phones around campus that students can use in the event of an emergency.
Campus Safety also provides rape prevention and self-defense classes two to three times every quarter. For dates, times and information, go to www.du.edu/campus safety.
