AMHERST — A Dartmouth man has been charged with raping a woman living in UMass Amherst’s Thoreau dormitory after she told police he sexually assaulted her in her dorm room on two different occasions.
John S. Gibbs Jr., 24, pleaded innocent Friday in Eastern Hampshire District Court to two counts of rape and he was released on his own recognizance.
According to court documents, at 11:30 p.m. on July 30, UMass police officers responding to the reported rape found Gibbs, who is not a student at the college, standing outside the victim’s dorm room in his underwear.
The victim reportedly told police that earlier in the week, she had awoken after taking a powerful prescribed medication and found Gibbs lying on top of her, and that again on Thursday, he had entered her room and forcibly raped her.
A spokesman for the college, Patrick Callahan, said he believed the victim was a student in UMass’ summer program. He said he didn’t know how the man gained access to the building, but the details would be released during court proceedings.
Gibbs is scheduled to reappear in court for a pretrial hearing on Aug. 31.
— OWEN BOSS
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