Campus Police discovered a male student in a stall inside the women’s restroom filming at the George Mason University Fairfax Campus on February 12, 2019. Police say that there is insufficient evidence to charge the student under Virginia Law. Mason’s response to the incident led students to question how safe they really are at George Mason University.
The student in question was reported earlier in February by two Mason employees who witnessed the man walk out of the women’s restroom. After another police report was filed, the man was apprehended by police hiding in a stall in the aforementioned restroom. The student had a cellphone in his possession with evidence showing an endeavor to tape women in the bathroom. The student was immediately brought in for questioning, and a search warrant on the student’s residence and all his electronics was obtained. Upon completing the investigation, it was found that there was not enough evidence to convict under Virginia law. The case has been passed to the Office of Student Conduct at George Mason University for further action. If found guilty, the student could face several punishments from suspension or probation to a dismissal from the university or revocation of a degree.
The Mason student body was not informed by the Mason Campus Police of the incident until after the student was apprehended, writing, “In retrospect, though this incident didn’t call for an official timely, warning notification, we understand that a university message would have provided more clarity and less confusion.” The Mason Police then provided services for individuals who want and are seeking support and make clear that “[the Mason Police’s] goal is to ensure that all students experience a safe and secure learning environment.” However, the student body learned about the inappropriate filming in the women’s restroom from Virginia local news rather than from George Mason University itself. Even though two different reports were filed against the suspicious individual, the Mason Police Department did not notify the student body until February 28, 2019, roughly two weeks after the student was apprehended.
The student body was dissatisfied and disgusted with not only the lack of a “warning notification,” but the lack of any notification at all. Students and parents alike agree that this situation warranted an official warning and are very upset that there has been no follow up, no release of a photo or any sort of identification for the man, and that the students had not been notified immediately at the time of the incident.
Written by Madison Fitzgerald | Staff Writer
mtzge@masonlive.gmu.edu
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