Galveston County Sheriff’s Office(CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.) — The suspect charged with abducting University of Virginia student Hannah Graham was accused of sexual assault while at college, according to a report the school released Wednesday.
Christopher Newport University made public a “criminal incident information” report that stated Jesse Matthew was investigated for an alleged sexual assault on campus that occurred Sept. 7, 2003.
The school said in a statement that it initially declined to release the report, but said, “The success of the criminal investigation is paramount at this time. The university has consulted with the Virginia State Police again today, and we are now releasing the following non-exempt ‘criminal incident information.'”
The report said the alleged sexual assault took place on the school’s campus and was investigated by university police Capt. Scott Austin. No injuries were reported in connection with the alleged assault, the report said.
It does not indicate whether any criminal charges were filed. Calls to the Newport News police station were not immediately returned, but previous criminal records searches did not turn up any charges of sexual assault. Matthew’s attorney, Jim Camblos, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
CNU spokeswoman Lori Jacobs said that federal student record privacy laws “limit the information we can provide.”
The report notes that Matthew quit the school’s football team five days after the alleged assault and left the school on Oct. 15.
Jacobs would not say specifically if the campus police investigation into the alleged sexual assault led to him leaving the school, but said, “Students don’t usually leave in the second month of the semester or leave the football team within a month.”
Matthew attended Christopher Newport University after leaving his first college, Liberty University, after only two years.
Matthew is now in police custody after being arrested in connection with the disappearance of Graham. He has not entered a plea.
The news of the Christopher Newport University sexual assault investigation comes as at least two different sheriff’s offices in Virginia reported that they were looking into open murder cases to see if Matthew was connected.
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