George P. Terry of Troy was arrested and charged last month with the rape and robbery of a 26-year-old RPI student in the Beman Park area of Troy, just north of the Heffner Alumni House. Terry’s accuser says he followed her down 14th Street toward Peoples, then pulled her off the street into a wooded area, where he smashed her cell phone and punched her, then raped her before emptying her wallet and running off. The incident occurred at approximately 1:30 pm on Sunday the 14th, during a snowstorm.
The incident is the first sexual assault at RPI in many years, but Troy police believe that it may not be an isolated incident for the man. Detectives are investigating whether Terry was involved in another rape on December 4 in the Church Street alley between Third and Fourth Streets and Congress and State Streets. In addition, inquiries into incidents in downtown Troy involving a man forcibly grabbing women in the street were what led the police to Terry.
Terry was arrested on Friday, December 19, just five days after the Beman Park incident. Officials from both Troy Police and RPI Public Safety praised the officers and detectives involved in the investigation for the brevity of it.
“It was a result of good police work, and a result of efforts conducted by the Troy Police Department and RPI Public Safety,” praised Troy Police Sergeant John Riegert.
RPI Public Safety Assistant Director Mark DelVecchio agreed. “Considering the fact that the victim did not know the perpetrator, the randomness of the act, and how he endeavored to disguise himself, the turnaround time on the arrest by Troy Police was nothing less than extremely good. I believe it stands as clear testimony to the commitment of the Troy Police and RPI Public Safety to the entire community.”
RPI officials posted “Crime Alert” flyers throughout campus within 24 hours of the incident, serving as both a warning and an appeal for information. “People might have seen something, and we wanted to encourage people to call Troy Police with any information they had,” said RPI spokeswoman Theresa Bourgeois.
Some city residents were not so thrilled with the way the investigation was carried out, however. Despite the “Crime Alert” flyers that appeared on campus within a day, Beman Park residents say that they were not notified for over 48 hours. “We all knew something had happened, but didn’t know what,” lamented Beman Park Neighborhood Association President Michele DeLair. “I have a promise from the police that they won’t do this in the future. They didn’t want to cause a panic, but they did by not telling us.”
DeLair said other problems cropped up with concealment, also. The area that the crime occured in was not roped off until the next night. Students, community members, and media personnel were walking through the area all day, and when she questioned it, DeLair said the police told her that it was again done with the intent of not worrying people in the neighborhood.
“Quite obviously, it was kept quiet because RPI didn’t want a lot of publicity, didn’t want it to look like there was crime in the area,” DeLair theorized. “But you’d have to be crazy in this day and age to think that a city doesn’t have crime.”
She continued, “I hope RPI is a little more sensitive to their students and their safety in the future.”
In light of the incident, Public Safety has been reminding the RPI community of services available to them through the department, including the escort service, and the Rape Aggression Defense class. A session of the twelve-hour defense program began yesterday, but the class is offered any time that ten or more people sign up for it.
