Wisconsin student charged with sexual assault of five women
- Published
A University of Wisconsin-Madison student accused of sexually assaulting a woman has been charged with sexually assaulting four others.
Alec Cook, 20, was first charged with sexually assaulting a woman in his apartment earlier this month.
Dozens of women have since come forward to accuse him of sexual assault after a photo of Mr Cook circulated online.
Police found a black book in Mr Cook's apartment describing his sexual desires and the names of women he had met.
He was charged last week with sexually assaulting a woman in his apartment on the night of 12 October after the two had studied together.
She said Mr Cook maintained "a death grip" on her body during a two-hour attack.
Prosecutors filed a complaint against him on Thursday alleging he assaulted another woman multiple times during a ballroom dancing class last spring.
The complaint also alleged Mr Cook assaulted a woman at a party in March 2015; a woman he met in a human sexuality class in February; and another woman he met during a psychology class experiment in August.
He faces seven counts of second-degree sexual assault, three of third-degree sexual assault, two charges of strangulation, two counts of false imprisonment and one of fourth-degree sexual assault.
Mr Cook's attorneys, Jessa Nicholson and Chris Van Wagner, said they will argue the ballroom assault never occurred and contend the other incidents were consensual.
The woman who accused Mr Cook of the ballroom assault said he repeatedly touched her breasts and buttocks while they were dancing.
She said this occurred 15 to 20 times over the semester.
The class instructor told police she had received an email from the woman saying she was uncomfortable with how Mr Cook touched her.
She added that no other students had complained about him.
Mr Cook, of Edina, Minnesota, told authorities the woman never told him to stop, according to the criminal complaint.
His bail was set at $200,000 (£164,000) during a brief hearing on Thursday. He made no statement at the hearing.
Mr Cook has been suspended by the university and banned from campus.