Suspect in college rape case identified as former student, tutor
College officials announce new security measures
Montgomery College officials have identified the suspect who allegedly raped a student in a bathroom on the Takoma Park campus Jan. 26 as a former student and biology tutor with previous run-ins with campus security.
Nathaniel L. Hart, 34, of 1320 Nicholson St. NW, Washington, D.C., transferred to the college last spring, enrolling in a single biology class and working as a student tutor in the same subject, according to college spokeswoman Elizabeth Homan.
Hart was later confronted twice by campus security Jan. 15 when he allegedly attempted to spend a night sleeping in a women's bathroom on campus, Homan said. When confronted, Hart produced an expired student identification card and was escorted off campus, Homan said.
Only 11 days later, Hart allegedly raped a 19-year-old female twice in a second-floor bathroom of the college's new performing arts center at Georgia Avenue and East West Highway, according to charging documents filed in Montgomery County District Court.
The following is an account of the alleged incident as outlined in the charging documents:
The victim had left a classroom and was allegedly followed into a women's restroom by Hart, who reportedly climbed under the door of the bathroom stall she was using.
"Be quiet. I'll hurt you, I have a gun and I will use it," Hart reportedly said to the victim. He then allegedly removed the victim's pants and forced sexual intercourse, according to the documents.
Hart then reportedly stayed with the victim in the stall and tearfully apologized before talking about his ex-wife and "how he was going to hell." When the victim put her clothes back on, Hart became angry, then forced sexual intercourse again, according to the documents. The bathroom assault reportedly lasted about an hour before Hart fled the building.
Shortly after county police responded to reports of a rape at about 3:38 p.m. Jan. 26, a campus security officer notified them of the Jan. 15 incident and provided Hart's name and photograph, according to Homan. Video of the suspect leaving the performing arts building Jan. 26 matched the photo of the man sleeping in the women's bathroom Jan. 15, according to charging documents.
After a five-hour manhunt across much of downtown Silver Spring, Hart was arrested at about 8:40 p.m. at the Days Inn hotel at 8040 16th St.
Hart has been charged with two counts of first-degree rape, first-degree sexual offense and attempting to escape after arrest. He is being held at the Montgomery County Detention Center without bond. District Court Judge Eugene Wolfe postponed Hart's Jan. 27 bond hearing for one week to conduct a diagnostic test. Wolfe was advised by a Clinical Assessment Triage Service team at the county detention center to order the psychiatric evaluation because Hart had been hallucinating, said Hart's public defender, Audrey Creighton. The bond hearing is scheduled to be held either today or Thursday in Rockville.
Hart spent three months a total of 80 hours as a college-employed biology tutor during the 2009 spring semester at Montgomery College, Homan said. The college does not complete background checks for such assistant positions, according to Homan. The victim did not know the suspect, said police spokeswoman Lucille Baur.
Because of the public nature of the college, it's common for the public to use its facilities.
"By all intents and purposes, this appeared to be a man who was looking for a place to stay the night, a warm place to sleep," Homan said. "It's standard that you would tell somebody once [to leave], and if then they do not comply, you call the police."
For an indefinite time period, the college will lock all Georgia Avenue entrances to the performing arts and health sciences centers from the outside, Homan said. The only entrance to the performing arts building will be located on King Street. The college has also locked the doors on all bathrooms in the second floor of the performing arts building.
A full review of the campus security force and its response is already under way, said college spokesman Brett Eaton. Prior to the incident, the college had started the process of hiring three security guards to fill existing vacancies, Eaton said last week.
Security cameras are placed at each of the entrances and exits of the performing arts center, which is the newest building on campus, but no cameras record the inside of the building, campus and police officials said.
The campus was briefly placed on lockdown Jan. 26 as police searched for a possibly-armed suspect with blood on his clothes and a rip in his jeans. During the lockdown, the college's Web site advised students and staff to stay where they were and for no one to enter the campus. Hart did not have a weapon when he was arrested, said Cpl. Daniel Friz, a police spokesman.
Student Dixie Souazoube, 18, was in a locked-down classroom for part of the afternoon. "It kind of shook me," she said outside the student service center last week. "I just thank god, because that could've been anybody; it could've been me."