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Attorneys for the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at Wesleyan University argued in a court filing this week that anonymity is inappropriate for a woman who has filed a lawsuit saying she was raped at a party at the Greek organization in 2010.

A motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court claims that the woman’s use of a pseudonym “allows her to make defamatory statements against [the fraternity and Wesleyan] behind a cloak of anonymity,” the Hartford Courant reported.

The former Wesleyan undergraduate, identified in court papers only as “Jane Doe,” is suing the university for allegedly failing to warn the campus properly about a fraternity that some students referred to as a “Rape Factory.” The suit claims that Wesleyan, a private school in central Connecticut, violated the federal gender-equity law Title IX by not protecting students and failing to provide Doe with resources after she was raped at the frat. She is also suing the Mu Epsilon chapter of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity and its national organization.

The woman said she was raped in a locked room during a 2010 Halloween party at Beta Theta Pi by John O’Neill, who was neither a member of the frat nor a student at the school. O’Neill pleaded no contest to lesser charges of third-degree assault and first-degree unlawful restraint and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Lawyers for the fraternity argue the woman “fails to provide support for her claim that the disclosure of her name would affect her emotional and physical well-being,” the Courant reports.

However, Doe’s suit contends that after her report, Wesleyan officials responded with emailed warnings to the student body and housing policy changes that led to harassment by some student supporters of the fraternity, who discovered her identity and targeted her with protests outside of her dorm and elsewhere.

“We disagree with the Fraternity Defendants’ position on the pseudonym issue,” said Timothy O’Keefe, an attorney for Doe, in a statement to The Huffington Post. “We believe Connecticut law protects a sexual assault victim’s identity from full public disclosure in these circumstances.”

O’Keefe said they plan to explain their position fully in objection papers they plan to file “sometime over the next several days.”

In April, Beta Theta Pi was the site of an alleged physical assault and an attempted sexual assault, the Wesleyan Argus reported. Beta president Elliot Albert emphasized at the time they were outraged and said, “We collectively need to do a better job at raising awareness and prevention of these types of events.”

Police are investigating an attempted sexual assault on the Wesleyan University campus Sunday.

The victim was assaulted at 184 High St. – the house of the Mu Epsilon Chapter of Beta Theta Pi fraternity – and was able to fend off the attacker and escape, police said. The victim was treated at Middlesex Hospital for injuries from the assault, police said.

Police received the report around 3 a.m., and said they are pursuing leads in the investigation.

The fraternity chapter has acknowledged the allegations of assault and said they are cooperating with police in the investigation.

Anyone with any further information is asked to contact police at 860-344-3200.

Police are investigating an assault and attempted sexual assault at a fraternity house at Wesleyan University.

Middletown police said the assault allegedly occurred at 184 High Street in Middletown early Sunday morning and the victim was able to fend off the attacker and flee.

The victim was treated at Middlesex Hospital for injuries received during the attack and reported the attack at 3 a.m.

The house, 184 High Street, is the Beta Theta Pi House, according to the City of Middletown Department of Planning, Conservation and Development Web site and the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity Web site.

The Wesleyan Argus reports that David Meyer, the public safety director at Wesleyan, said non-Beta brothers were among the people at the party on Saturday night and that the fraternity is cooperating with the investigation.

“The members of Beta Theta Pi share the campus’ outrage at the allegation of an attempted sexual assault at our chapter house early Sunday morning. We are cooperating with the University and the Middletown Police Department as they seek to identify the alleged attacker, and will continue to help the authorities in every way if and when he is found and arrested,” Elliot Albert, president of the fraternity, wrote in a statement.

The Special Investigative Services Unit is investigating, police said and detectives are pursuing several leads.

Courthouse News Service reports that a former Wesleyan University student who reported being sexually assaulted at a Beta Theta Pi house filed a lawsuit against the Beta Theta Pi Fraternity, the Mu Epsilon chapter. the landlord and manager of the Beta House, and Wesleyan University.

“Beta House has a long-documented history of dangerous misconduct, student injuries and numerous sexual assaults of women, resulting in Beta and Mu Epsilon losing recognition from Wesleyan as a student organization and gaining the reputation in the Wesleyan community as the ‘Rape Factory’,” Courhouse News Service reports, citing the complaint.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Middletown Police Department at 860-344-3200.

The full statement from Beta is posted below:

“The members of Beta Theta Pi share the campus’ outrage at the allegation of an attempted sexual assault at our chapter house early Sunday morning. We are cooperating with the University and the Middletown Police Department as they seek to identify the alleged attacker, and will continue to help the authorities in every way if and when he is found and arrested. Events such as this compromise the sense of safety and security that we as members of a campus community deserve, and we have zero tolerance for such actions. Unfortunately, sexual assault at Wesleyan remains a problem, and we share the belief that sexual assault, like any kind of assault, is problematic and utterly unacceptable. That our house became the location of this unfortunate and intolerable crime is a powerful reminder to the entire Wesleyan community that we collectively need to do a better job at raising awareness and prevention of these type of events. Beta Theta Pi plans to strengthen our partnership with Wesleyan’s Sexual Assault Response Team (SART) and Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and we will continue to plan programs for our members such as last semester’s WESpeak-WEStand Bystander Intervention program, which aimed to create a campus that is actively engaged in the prevention of sexual assault. We all need to do our part in creating the safer community we deserve. Our thoughts, prayers, and solidarity are with the survivor.”

The former owner of a production company that performed at school dances all over New England has been charged with sexual assault and possession of child pornography.

James M. Holmes, 29, was arrested Wednesday morning after what police called a lengthy investigation relating to child pornography and sexual assault involving more than one child.

He is charged with two counts each of second-degree sexual assault, fourth-degree sexual assault, risk of injury to a minor and illegal sexual contact, police said. Holmes is also charged with possession of child pornography and employing a minor in an obscene performance, police said.

In April 2012, police from Plainfield, with the help of officers from Holbrook, Mass., searched the address of Holmes’ company J Productions at 54 Oakwood Blvd. No one was charged at the time, but police applied for an arrest warrant for one person. Plainfield Police Chief Michael G. Suprenant said at the time of the search that one child under 16 was assaulted at a number of locations in Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The company provides DJ and lighting services for proms, weddings, school dances and other events, according to its website.

Holmes, who now lives in Middleboro, Mass., was held with bail set at $200,000 and was scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.

The warrant for the arrest of a former Miss Porter’s School physics teacher and coach outlines allegations of repeated sexual liaisons between the teacher and a student who has since graduated.

But police continue to investigate the case, and say more charges are possible. Farmington police Det. Susan DiVenere interviewed six current and former Miss Porter’s students about inappropriate conduct they claim they experienced with Joseph Rajkumar, 42, who was charged last month with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault.

Rajkumar posted $500,000 bail. He appeared briefly at Superior Court in Hartford on Tuesday.

Rajkumar worked at Miss Porter’s from August 2009 until March 4. Farmington police opened their investigation March 6, after a Miss Porter’s guidance counselor notified the state Department of Children and Families of sexually inappropriate conversations between Rajkumar and five students, police said. The guidance counselor learned of the messages and immediately contacted DCF, police said.

Farmington police praised Miss Porter’s for its quick reporting of the suspicious conduct, its cooperation with the police investigation and its focus on getting students any counseling or other help they need.

The school has a zero tolerance policy and fired Rajkumar as soon as staff learned of the messages, Farmington police Chief Paul Melanson said. The school then immediately contacted DCF, as required by law.

The student Rajkumar is accused of sexually assaulting is now in college and disclosed the alleged contact with Rajkumar to her boyfriend. The boyfriend contacted local police, who interviewed the young woman and contacted Farmington police on March 20.

The student told police her relationship with Rajkumar began when she was 15 and consisted of what police described as inappropriate attention. It became sexual when she was 17, according to the warrant.

Although the age of consent in Connecticut is 16, state law makes it illegal for a school employee to engage in sexual conduct with a student.

The woman told police she would talk to Rajkumar about stress during school, especially when big tests were coming up. “He would give her a hug and ‘pull me in really close, feeling me a little,'” according to the warrant. “She explained that he would rub his hand up and down her back.”

The girl acknowledged that she thought Rajkumar’s attention was “exciting” and that “she went along with it.” In the meantime, Rajkumar urged her to create a fictitious email account. During the summer, the student told police, she and Rajkumar exchanged sexual videos.

Eventually, they began having sexual contact that progressed from “making out” to groping to sexual intercourse, the warrant says. They had intercourse in the back closet of Rajkumar’s classroom in the Olin building at Miss Porter’s, the student told police.

After the woman graduated, she did not hear from Rajkumar and was confused about their relationship, the warrant says. She said she was afraid to report what happened out of fear Miss Porter’s would take away her diploma, which would cause her to have to leave college.

On March 7, according to the warrant, Rajkumar went to the Farmington Police Department to talk with DiVenere about the investigation. He admitted that he communicated with current students through a Gmail account with the fake name Terry Olson, and described the emails as “not appropriate,” the warrant says.

DiVenere found emails between Rajkumar and the student that were sexual in nature, although Rajkumar claimed all such emails were after she graduated and was in college, the warrant says. When DiVenere noted that the dates on the emails did not back up that claim, he began to cry and repeatedly apologized, the warrant says.

On March 21, Rajkumar voluntarily went to the police station to talk to DiVenere again about the case, and acknowledged a sexual relationship with the student during her senior year, but then left the police station because he said he wanted to confess to his wife before saying more, the warrant says.

He returned a short time later and provided a written statement to DiVenere in which he admitted to the relationship, and wrote “I am very sorry and embarrassed to report this. I know this is my fault. I am sorry to have hurt the youngster in this process,” according to the warrant.

The relationship, he said, began in the fall. “We would talk about attraction towards each other,” he said, according to the warrant. He described how the sexual contact evolved to the point where they were having intercourse as often as twice a week in his classroom closet.

The student provided more information to police about what occurred and her age at the time. She also described the progression in the warrant: “I do not know what exactly Joseph Rajkumar has said, but the short story (that even he cannot deny) is that he used me for sex and made me believe that it was OK.”

A former teacher at Miss Porter’s School has been charged with sexual assault for having sexual contact with a student at the girls’ school.

Joseph Prem Rajkumar, 42, was charged with two counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of fourth-degree sexual assault, according to police.

He was charged under the section of the law that makes it illegal for a school employee to engage in sexual conduct with a student.

The warrant for Rajkumar’s arrest is sealed and police declined to release much information because their investigation is continuing. Detectives took him into custody Monday afternoon and he was arraigned Tuesday in Superior Court in Hartford, where a judge set his bail at $500,000. He remains in custody.

Rajkumar is accused of having sexual contact with one student, but police said they are working to determine if any other students are involved.

According to the Miss Porter’s website, Rajkumar arrived at the school in August 2009.

The announcement indicates that he moved to Miss Porter’s from Conserve School in Land O’ Lakes, Wisc., where he was a math and physics teacher. He taught physics at Miss Porter’s, coached track and the robotics team.

A Miss Porter’s spokeswoman said Rajkumar was employed as a science teacher at Miss Porter’s from August 2009 through March 4. The school declined to comment further.

A Suffield man on trial for sexually assaulting a child pleaded guilty Tuesday rather than leave his fate in the hands of the jury.

Michael Chapman, 44, pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor. He agreed to a sentence of 13 years in prison, 10 years of special parole and registration as a sex offender.

The plea came after several days of trial in Superior Court in Rockville and the testimony of Chapman’s young victim. Chapman will be sentenced Tuesday.

Chapman was initially charged with four counts of first-degree sexual assault and three counts of risk of injury to a minor for a series of sexual assaults that occurred in Tolland County.

State police investigated the allegations and brought charges. Assistant State’s Attorney Elizabeth Leaming prosecuted Chapman.

One law firm has rented out a conference room in the downtown Hilton and invited patients of a Johns Hopkins gynecologist to discuss their legal options. Other firms are taking out newspaper ads, urging his patients to contact them. Others are asking clients to spread the word to other potential victims.

Baltimore lawyers have begun jockeying for a role in finding out what happened in the offices of Dr. Nikita A. Levy, who is accused of secretly photographing and videotaping patients.

Richard Kenny was quoted in a recent article in the Baltimore Sun concerning the ongoing sexual abuse investigation of Dr. Nakita Levy at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.  You can link to the article here:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/crime/blog/bs-md-hopkins-doctor-lawsuits-20130221,0,17238.story?page=1

A Chaplin man has been arrested on charges related to a December boating accident on the Housatonic River that led to the death of a passenger.

Authorities say 54-year-old Burt Hamilton was trying to return his boat to a ramp in Shelton when he collided with a dock piling. The passenger, Donald Bessette of Chaplin, fell overboard and drowned.

Connecticut’s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Environmental Conservation Police arrested Hamilton on Friday. He is charged with reckless boating, failure to maintain proper lookout, and speed in excess of slow-no-wake zone. Investigators say Bessette was ejected from the boat when it collided with the dock piling.

Hamilton is to appear in Derby Superior Court on April 1.

A phone message left at Hamilton’s address was not immediately returned.

By ALAINE GRIFFIN, agriffin@courant.com The Hartford Courant
10:41 p.m. EDT, March 20, 2013

TORRINGTON ——

With local and national TV news cameras rolling and journalists’ microphones in front of her, Torrington Schools Superintendent Cheryl F. Kloczko smiled as she broke some news.

For the 13^th year in a row, Torrington’s music education program had just received national recognition.

“We’d like to share some good news once in a while,” Kloczko said.

It was all Kloczko managed to say at the afternoon press conference Wednesday where she was joined by police to talk about decidedly bad news: Her school system and the city at large were dealing with a crisis that played out on the national radar as an echo of the Steubenville, Ohio, rape case.

Three male students, including two football players, had been charged with sexually assaulting two 13-year-old girls — charges that drew social media posts critical of the alleged victims.

Kloczko, 61, was visibly upset earlier in the day after police briefed her on details of their investigation into the alleged assaults.

“Oh, I’m so angry,” she said in an interview in her office. “It’s all about respect and how you treat one another.”

The third arrest in two weeks was announced only Wednesday when police said that an unidentified 17-year-old male Torrington High School student had been charged with sexual assault and risk of injury to a minor — and that there could be more arrests.

All three arrests so far involved the same two underage girls, both from Torrington, police Lt. Michael Emanuel said at the press conference outside Torrington High School.

“It’s very complex, but [the case is] under control,” Emanuel said. “I’m not minimizing this,” he said, but he stressed that the 13-year-olds knew the older teenagers. The reason the incidents are being investigated as sexual assaults is because the girls are so young and the age difference is more than three years.

“It was consensual in the sense that it was not an attack but not consensual in the eyes of the law,” Emanuel said.

Two Torrington High School students, both 18, were arrested in late February and charged with sexual assault, each with a different 13-year-old girl. Police said both assaults occurred Feb. 10, a Sunday, and were reported to police by family members the next day.

The third arrest came March 4, stemming from an incident last fall, Emanuel said. The 17-year-old suspect is considered a minor and his case was referred to juvenile court. No details of that case were released.

Emanuel said there are “possibly” more arrests coming. When asked about allegations of taunting of the victims on social media, Emanuel said posts on Twitter and in other places on the Internet have “not come to our attention.”

The press conference was held jointly by police and school officials, who were flooded with questions after The Register Citizen newspaper in Torrington reported on the first two arrests and other incidents Wednesday under a headline across the top of Page 1: “Bullying, hazing and rape at THS.”

The paper published tweets, after the first two arrests, that targeted the 13-year-old girls. Among them: “I wanna know why there’s no punishment for young hoes,” “Even if it was all his fault, what was a 13 year old girl doing hanging around with 18 year old guys …” and “I’m sorry but none of this would be happening if young girls respected themselves nowadays.”

School officials Wednesday tried to assure the community that they are taking “all possible steps” to safeguard students’ safety.

Kenneth P. Traub, chairman of the board of education, made brief remarks at the press conference but cited confidentiality laws in refusing to answer questions from reporters. He said the Torrington schools “will continue to support and assist law enforcement officials in their investigation.”

He added, “We want to assure our school community that we are very concerned about the safety and well-being of all of our students and that all possible steps are being taken to keep our students safe in school.”

Kloczko said in the earlier interview that the three male students had been suspended from school in connection with the alleged sexual assaults. Results of an investigation by the school, with assistance from state child welfare officials, could determine whether the teens would ultimately by expelled, she said.